Thoroughly Modern Bella
by emilylostboystwilight
Summary: Alice and Bella move to New York City right after graduation with hardly any money. Alice's plan to get rich is to marry her new boss, and she tries to get Bella to do the same. Who will Bella choose? Her new boss or the cute guy she just met? All human.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Twilight **_**or **_**Thoroughly Modern Millie. **_**I can wish, though.**

_A/N: I can't wait to get started with this. I think it will turn out well in the end, and I'm expecting the story to be fairly long, about 20 chapters. I've finished The Girl from Forks and I'm holding it ransom, so if you want to be able to read that, you have to review and favorite and author alert and all that good stuff (if you want to know the full conditions, visit my story The Boy from Alaska). Here you go, it's gonna be short, but enjoy!_

"Alice, slow down," I yelled at my best friend as we pushed our way through the busy subway station.

"No! We have to move and be quick! This is what New York's all about!" she said, barely turning her head back to me. I rushed after her up the stairs, tripping a few times along the way, but eventually, I caught up with her. I couldn't believe I was doing this.

Alice and I had been best friends forever. Our parents had grown up together, as well as our grandparents, and our great grandparents. That was what happened in Forks. You stayed there until you died. Alice, being Alice, decided that she would not just sit by quietly and accept her fate and sit in our small, quiet, hometown and rot.

After our high school graduation, she'd told me her plan to move to New York City. It seemed so like her to move to this place, the busiest place on earth, with tons of good places to shop. It wasn't like me. I was quiet and reserved and Alice had been my only friend my entire life, which is why I decided to come with her when she asked me to pick up and move before college. We were both going to start at NYU in the fall, so we moved here early in hopes of getting an apartment and starting our own life in the Big Apple.

We wandered around aimlessly, looking for an apartment, carrying all of the things we'd decided to bring with us. We got on subway after subway, taken cab after cab to get to nowhere. Finally, we got to where Alice was taking us.

"Okay, here it is," she said as we pulled up to a big building that looked pretty nice. We got out of our cab and paid the nice driver, who sounded like he should be in some sort of mafia, by the way. We grabbed our suitcases and bags to go inside.

"Alice, what is this? And what are we doing here?" I was getting fed up with her, honestly. I just wanted to rest after being on planes and subways and taxis all day long. I wanted to sit down and rest my feet for once, enjoy life. But no, I had to be an idiot and let my stupid best friend drag me all the way to the other side of the country because she thought she'd like it there. We reached the inside of the building before Alice answered.

"Bella, we're gonna have to get an apartment, so I looked this place up online. As it turns out, they had an available apartment, big enough for us, so I said we would come and check it out. The pictures online were fabulous, by the way." I stared at her in disbelief.

"What were you thinking? Honestly, what if it's not like what the pictures were like? What if it's a dump?" I said quieter than before. "What if we can't move in here and have to get a hotel? Then we'll get stuck here and never be able to get back home!"

"Oh, please, Bella. Grow a pair and live your life!"

"Just because I'm sensible-" I was cut off when a woman approached us, her heels clicking against the tile floor.

"Hello, ladies, my name is Emily, and you must be Alice and Bella!" the Native American woman said, holding out her hand for us to shake. She had long black hair that was pulled up into a bun and was wearing a white, long sleeved blouse and a lavender skirt that came down to her knee. She smiled as we took each took her hand.

"I'm Alice, yes, and this is Bella," Alice said, gesturing to me.

"Well, I'm sure you'd like to see the room before you sign the lease, right?" Emily said, looking back and forth between the two of us.

"Yes," Alice replied. I was going to leave all of the talking to her. This was her thing and she'd already made me mad, so I was going to stay out of it before I said something I would regret.

"Right this way, then," Emily said, leading us off to the elevator. Now that I looked around, I couldn't really imagine why the room wouldn't be quite nice. The rest of this place was magnificent, like a hotel, even. "It is furnished, like you probably already knew," she continued as we stepped off the elevator, turning left. Emily pulled out a key and stuck it into the first door on the right. She opened it up to reveal an absolutely perfect apartment. It had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living area, and a kitchen. It was spacious and had a nice couch and coffee table, comfy beds and a nice television. I couldn't believe what Alice had found for us. My mood instantly brightened, but soured quickly.

"How much will this cost a month?" I asked suspiciously. When Emily said the amount, I gasped. We could barely afford rent for the month if we bought food and necessities.

"We'll take it," Alice announced instantly.

"What? Alice, no," I whispered to her.

"Chill, Bella. I have a plan," she said as we went to fill out paperwork for our new apartment.

_A/N: Longest first chapter I've ever written. With this story, I'm thinking that the chapters will be shorter, but there will be more of them. So, it'll even out._


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Twilight **_**or **_**Thoroughly Modern Millie. **_**I can wish, though.**

_A/N: I think this one will be pretty short, but I could be wrong._

We came back to the apartment and unpacked after going down to the lobby and filling out all of the necessary paperwork for the new house. After Alice mentioned her plan, I just went with it, since we were in front of a stranger. I could yell at her when we were alone. I shut the door behind me and grabbed Alice's hand, yanking her over to the couch.

"Ouch," she exclaimed.

"Alice, why? Really, what if this place had been a complete dump?" She took a deep breath and closed her eyes before answering me.

"I didn't. I just had a feeling. Even before I looked at the pictures, I could see it, almost exactly like this. I just... knew." I looked at her skeptically and continued my interrogation.

"Okay, so, what's your brilliant plan for rent?" I asked, knowing she couldn't have any idea besides getting money from our parents.

"I'm going to marry my boss." I just looked at her and my mouth dropped open before I started laughing hysterically.

"Oh, Alice, that's really funny," I said, once I had calmed down enough to be able to form words. She continued to look at me. I instantly sobered. "You're serious," I stated. "You- you don't even have a boss to marry! I can't believe you!" I exclaimed, jumping off the couch and walking to the other side of the room, my hands in the air.

"I could see that too," she said. "I knew we'd be okay if we came here. It was like I could see who I was going to marry. All I knew was that he was my boss. His face was fuzzy in my mind and-" she broke off, knowing that she sounded crazy. "Look, I know I sound crazy, but I did see I would get a nice job, and so would you." She stopped like she was about to give something away that she shouldn't. Her mood changed quickly. "You should marry your boss, too!" she yelled. I gave her one short laugh.

"Ha! Look, I know you think you have this... gift, I guess, but I'm not so sure about it. We don't have jobs and we're completely alone. And why would you marry your boss if you already have a job?" I asked, questioning (and considering) her plan.

"Easy: so I could have more money and I wouldn't have to work anymore." Leave it to Alice to think like that.

"Okay," I said, knowing that it was stupid to try and reason with Alice. Once she made up her mind, she knew what was going to happen and she was going to do what she wanted. "So we're both going to find jobs, right?"

"Yes," Alice said.

"Well, let's get started," I said, pulling out the paper we'd bought earlier today somewhere along our big journey, turning straight to the "Wanted" section as we began our search.

_A/N: Really short, as I said. Sorry, the next one should be longer!_


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Twilight **_**or **_**Thoroughly Modern Millie. **_**I can wish, though.**

_A/N: I think I'm going to enjoy writing this. Plus, after the previous chapter (or pathetic excuse for one), I caved and decided to give you this. Two in one day. I'm adding this author's note, but right now, I'm just letting you know, I just finished Chapter 7, so I'm hoping I can post a chapter a day._

"Argh!" I exclaimed, huffing as I plopped myself back down on the couch.

"What?" Alice questioned as she walked through the door, coming home from her job.

"I just got another rejection," I said, whining a little bit, hanging up our phone on the way. I had the worst luck in the history of the world, especially when it came to this. The only job I ever had was at Newton's, a little store for camping and hiking supplies in my hometown, and the only reason I got that job was because Mike Newton, the son of the owner, had a crush on me. I didn't really want to work at Newton's, but there really wasn't anything else in town, and no place would hire me, anyway.

Alice, on the other hand, was lucky. She got the first job she wanted. She loved fashion and loved to shop, so naturally, she wanted to work in a clothing store. The first place she went to was a place called Hale's. It sold exactly the types of things that Alice would buy and was right in the middle of everything, so Alice _had_ to get that job. I remembered how much she screamed when she got the job. Today had been her first day, and she geared up to tell me how it went. She didn't even wait for an invitation, she just jumped right in.

"Bella, he's fantastic!" Alice gushed.

"Who?"

"Him... my boss. We met today and it was magical. His name is Jasper Hale and he's the most beautiful man I've ever laid eyes on. Today, he told me how to work the cash register!" she said dreamily. I laughed.

"Alice... uh, I'm pretty sure he was required to tell you that. I don't think you should start picking wedding colors just yet."

"Oh, but I have," she said. "I was thinking yellow. It would just work so well, and it would compliment his eyes perfectly," she said, still in her dazed state. I walked to the kitchen to look for something to eat.

"Okay, whatever you say," I said absently. This was going to suck if I couldn't get a job in the next few weeks.

The next few days just dragged on. I kept getting rejections, going in to more interviews and then getting more rejections. Finally, I decided to stop and visit Alice on her lunch hour one day. I walked into the shop, past the too-cheery greeters over to the cash register.

"Hey, Alice," I said. "You about done?"

"Yes, just let me go tell them I'm leaving." She disappeared for a few minutes and then came back with her purse. We started out the door and Alice let out a little squeal.

"What?" I said, a little harshly.

"Over... there," she said, pointing to my left. There was a man, about four or five years older than us, with pale blonde hair and blue eyes. He turned around and noticed us. He waved to Alice.

"See you in an hour, Alice," he said as she smiled brightly.

"Okay, Mr. Hale." She kept on walking out the door and once we were around the corner, she screamed, causing quite a few people to look at us. "Did you HEAR WHAT HE CALLED ME?"

"Uh, Alice?"

"YES!!!!" she exclaimed, skipping a little bit as we walked towards the little coffee shop down the road. I would have said something, but I didn't want to ruin Alice's mood or crush her fantasies. We got there and ordered the cheapest things we could find before taking a seat next to the big window.

"Any luck with the job hunt?" she said, sipping her coffee. Alice didn't like plain coffee, but it was all we could afford right now. No Frappaccinos for us for a while.

"Nope, 'lack of experience' again," I said plainly.

"Well, once you get one, you should marry your boss," she said, only half-teasing.

"Shut up, Alice," I said, laughing back at her.

_A/N: I know, you're probably thinking, "what the heck was that?." That, my friends, is a filler chapter. Just something to let you know that Bella hasn't gotten a job yet and Alice is falling more in love with Jasper every day... Remember our little deal, review and alert and stuff and you get another chapter of Girl from Forks._


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Twilight **_**or **_**Thoroughly Modern Millie. **_**I can wish, though.**

_A/N: How does a chapter a day sound? That's what I did with my last fanfic, and I think it can work for this one. Please tell me your opinion on this!_

That night, when Alice got home, I started to look through the paper as I did every night. I was getting completely desperate now. Just as I was about to give up and go to bed, I saw something that I hadn't seen until now. It read, "Now Hiring Personal Assistant for Jacob Black, Editor-in-Chief of Eclipse Magazine." I'd heard of Eclipse. I hadn't read it much because I never had need to, because it was an interior design magazine. I did love reading, though and a magazine was a form of writing, so I decided it would be the perfect job for me right now. I called in and talked to someone about the job and they said I had an interview tomorrow morning at ten.

The next morning, I woke up bright and early, seeming happy, but nervous.

"Hey, Bella," Alice greeted me as she gathered her things, getting ready to head out the door. "Why are you so perky today?"

"I have an interview today," I said, smiling.

"That's great," she exclaimed, throwing her skinny arms around my neck. She jumped away quickly. " I have to go, I have to leave now or I'm going to be late!" she said, grabbing a bagel.

"Alice, it's 9:17, it takes you ten minutes to get to work and you don't need to be there until ten," I said as she headed out.

"I know, but Jasper gets there to open the doors at 9:30, and I want to have him alone for a few minutes. Plus, it shows I have great work ethic," she said running away and shutting the door behind her. I couldn't see how she could run that fast in three-inch heels. I chuckled as I thought about it before jumping in the shower. The warm water calmed me and caused me to get my business face on. I needed this job. I pulled my hair back into a neat bun, throwing on my nicest gray skirt and light purple dress shirt. I walked into the office, arriving five minutes early. I walked to the woman at the front desk.

"I have an interview at ten with Jacob Black about the assistant position."

"Okay, I'll let him know you're here," she said, punching in some numbers on her phone. "You can go sit down over there," she said, pointing to some chairs to my right before speaking into the phone. The chairs were very comfortable, I noted as I sat down. "He'll be right with you," the lady said, going back to her work. This place was nothing like anything I'd seen on _Ugly Betty._ It wasn't busy and open. There were several rooms down the hall and the front area was decorated very modernly. People weren't running around looking for things that they'd misplaced for the cover or some other photo shoot. _Let's hope it stays this way,_ I thought, hoping that this magazine would be different than what I saw on television. I really didn't want Jacob to be like Wilhelmina Slater. Just then, a man around age thirty busted through the door to my right, right across from where the front desk was. He was clearly Native American, and was quite handsome, I said. _Quit it, Bella. You're not Alice, and this is your potential boss!_ I screamed at myself as I walked over to meet him the same time he walked towards me.

"Well, you must be Isabella Swan," he said, shaking my hand firmly.

"Just Bella, please," I said.

"I'm Jacob Black, as you probably knew, come on over here, step into my office." He led me back through the door to the very back of the office. There was a door at the very end of the hall and he opened it for me to go in first. He stepped behind the gigantic desk and sat down. "Please, sit down, " he said, motioning to one of the two chairs right in front of his desk. I sat down and sat up straight, my legs crossed under me the way Julie Andrews taught Anne Hathaway in _Princess Diaries._

"So, Bella, how much experience do you have with a job like this?" Crap. I knew I didn't have a prayer of getting this job.

"None, sir." I paused. "But, I do love to read, and that's what attracted me to this position." _Besides the fact that I had no other options, _I added mentally. "Really, I love to read and I thought that a magazine would be a good place to work and a good place to plant my roots. I thought I could start at the bottom and work my way up." Mr. Black paused. Here it comes, another rejection...

"You know what, Bella? I like you. You seem like a very nice girl, and I'm the one that makes the decisions around here anyway. You don't have any experience, and that's just fine. This is exactly what we need around here, people that want to get started and work their way up, like in the old days. You got yourself a job, Bella." I struggled to keep a straight face and failed. I smiled like an idiot, not giving in to my urge to scream. I reached out to shake Mr. Black's hand again.

"Oh, thank you so much, sir, you have no idea how much this means to me," I said, still shaking his hand.

"I guess we should talk salary, now, and hours." My hours were reasonable and the same as Alice's. We had lunch at the same time and everything, which was convenient. The salary was a lot less than Alice's but that was expected. I didn't care, though. I had a job, and we wouldn't lose our apartment. Things would still be tight, but we would have a little wiggle room. I would start the next morning, bright and early. I shook Mr. Black's hand again skipping off to tell Alice about my morning.

"Alice, Alice, Alice!" I screamed, rushing over to the cash register at Hale's. I had practically ran the entire way.

"What, Bella, what happened?" she asked frantically, wondering what could be wrong.

"No, Alice, it's nothing bad. I got the job!!!!" I exclaimed. She practically jumped over the counter to throw her arms around me.

"That's great!!!! And it's my lunch time," she said, glancing at the clock. She went to tell her coworkers and we were off again.

"Eclipse, huh?" she said as we walked to our usual lunch spot.

"Yes! And my boss gave me the job after one question! Which was the experience one."

"What?!"

"Yeah, I know. He just said that I looked like a nice girl, and that they needed people who were willing to start at the bottom and work their way up like in the old days."

"Are you serious?" she asked, laughing.

"Yeah. Oh, and I have the same hours as you, and same lunch hour!"

"That's great! So, is your boss cute?" she asked. I was silent.

"Oh, Bella has a little crush," she said, and I began blushing.

"Well, he was nice and he was pretty good looking, but just... not my type."

"What is your type, Bella?"

"Shut up, Alice," I said like I had the day before. Life was going to be so much better now that I had a job.

_A/N: This one is longer!!! Yay!!! Anyway, all of you Team Edward kids out there are going "What? NO!" but don't worry. I'm Team Edward and I hate Jacob, so you don't have to worry about any of my stories not featuring Edward. Well, at least my _Twilight_ ones._


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Twilight **_**or **_**Thoroughly Modern Millie. **_**I can wish, though.**

_A/N: Just watching some Robert Pattinson interviews and smiling. I love listening to the sound of his voice while I work because it's almost as good as Linkin Park and Muse. _

I started work as Mr. Black's assistant without incident. It was rather easy to do, really. All I did was call people all day and take phone calls and send e-mails and tell Mr. Black where he needed to go and when he needed to be there. I made sure he got to see everything that people were working on for the magazine and I began to love my job. I received my first paycheck that Friday and I was so excited. They also gave me a starting bonus, so that was great. I was planning on saving all of my extra money, but Alice wasn't. She got her first paycheck on the same day I got mine, and she was ready to celebrate.

"Come on, Bella, we have got to go out! We got here to do that, and all we've done is work!" she said when I refused to go out clubbing with her.

"Yeah, because of this apartment that you decided to take!" I loved Alice like a sister, but I fought with her like one as well. "Now, we have to work and that means no room to go out and drink all night. We can't even drink, though, we're eighteen!"

"That's why we get cute guys to buy us some," she explained simply.

"What about Jasper?" I asked, hitting her soft spot. She was silent.

"Well, we don't have to drink, but come on! Please? Please go out with me? Just for tonight, I promise!" she begged with her pouty face on. I couldn't resist it, no matter how much I tried.

"Okay. But only for tonight. And we're spending a minimal amount of money," I said, setting the ground rules.

"Sure, sure," she said unwillingly. We both got dressed in nice clothes. Alice wore a black tube dress with a beaded design on it and black heels. It came down mid-thigh, and she looked amazing in it. I, on the other hand, just wore a nice blue t-shirt and my favorite pair of blue jeans. I did wear black flats, though, since Alice started yelling about what a travesty I was committing by starting to wear my old Converse.

We walked around until we found the club that Alice had heard about from one of her coworkers. We didn't have to wait in line like most people, the bouncer just let us in. I wondered why and smiled shyly as I went inside. There were lights everywhere and a pulsing beat ran through the floor and through our bodies. There were tons of people just out on the dance floor dancing. I didn't feel like doing anything, so I went to sit down at a table I found that was empty. I sat there, just watching the people of New York City dance. I couldn't stop thinking about work or our financial situation. I was always so worried about what was going to happen to Alice and I. For a moment, I wished I could be like Alice. I wanted to be bold, and outgoing, and confident, and sexy, and... I didn't know. I at first had been appalled at her plans of marrying her boss, but now they didn't look so bad. I was tired of being poor as I had my entire life. I wanted to be able to buy whatever I wanted and do whatever I wanted. I had never wanted it before, but now, looking out into the crowd, I realized I did. The feeling came out of nowhere, and I realized that it would be possible for me to marry Jacob Black.

Just then, I looked focused for a moment on one specific spot in the crowd, and my eyes locked with a pair of deep emeralds. I saw the most handsome and perfect man I'd ever seen in my entire life. He was perfectly built, had pale skin, was tall, and had bronze hair (an odd shade, but I liked it). I continued to look at him long enough to realize he had a partner. She was beautiful and strawberry blonde with curls that went halfway down her back. She was nothing like me. I was sad that I couldn't be what this man wanted. But now I was determined to marry Jacob, so it didn't matter that I couldn't be with this guy, whoever he was. I continued to watch them dance together until he kissed her cheek lightly and they said a goodbye. Then, he turned and began to walk towards me.

_A/N: I enjoyed writing the Alice/Bella conversation in the beginning, no matter how short this chapter was. Please review and thank you so so so so so much for everything!_


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Twilight **_**or **_**Thoroughly Modern Millie. **_**I can wish, though.**

_A/N: Yay, I know, Edward's in the story now!!!!!! Woot Woot!!!!! I'm combining chapters 6 and 7 from my plans, so this one should be a little longer, I hope._

I looked down at the table and pretended not to notice him approaching. I fiddled with my hands nervously before hearing a soft velvet voice begin to speak to me.

"Hello. I'd give you some cheesy pickup line, but it probably wouldn't work on you." I glanced up for a second, then looked straight back down.

"You're probably right," I replied, blushing furiously.

"Mind if I sit here?" he said, motioning towards the chair right next to me.

"Oh, no, go ahead." I could barely think with him around; and my stomach was full of butterflies. "So, what's your name?" I asked, trying to make smalltalk.

"Edward Masen. And what's your name?"

"Bella," I stated simply. He held out his hand for me to shake it and I looked into his eyes, causing me to lose my train of thought. His hand felt warm and nice and perfect. I didn't really want to let it go, but I had to because I didn't want to seem like a creeper. I looked away and blushed again, taking my hand back.

"Bella," he repeated. "It suits you, I think," he said, sounding like he would like to say more. "Why aren't you out there dancing?"

"I don't dance. I'm too clumsy."

"Come on. Dance with me, please. It would really make my day if you did," he said, flashing me a crooked smile that melted my heart. I shook my head. "Please? The next slow song? I promise I won't try to feel you up," he said, still smiling, causing me to laugh. I really couldn't say no to him when he seemed like he wanted to and... he really did seem like the type of guy I'd feel safe with. I nodded.

"Okay. But only the slow song." He chuckled and nodded. Almost as if Edward had willed it, the music suddenly changed to a slow song. He reached out his hand and I took it as we slowly walked out to the dance floor. He wrapped his arms around my waist as I wrapped mine around his neck. I looked into his eyes and it was like I knew everything about him all at once. It was like we were old friends reuniting or coming home after a long journey. I felt completely comfortable with him as we started to sway from side to side, slowly turning like you would do in junior high. Before I knew what I was doing, I leaned in closer to him, wrapping my arms a little tighter and leaning my head onto his chest. His arms moved soothingly up and down my back and played with my hair. That's when it hit me.

This guy probably had a girlfriend. What was his reason for dancing with that girl first, then? Or was he just feeding me crap about everything and he came here every night just to do the same thing to unsuspecting girls? I became guarded and stiffened. I kept thinking about it, but then realized that this wasn't like Alice. Alice wouldn't care. It was his problem if he did have a girlfriend and he wanted to dance with me now, anyway, so I loosened back up as we finished out the song. When it was over, another fast song came on and we began to walk back to the table.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Edward asked as we went back to the table. He spoke too soon, though. Right at that moment, my clumsiness took over and I tripped, twisting my ankle as I went down. Edward caught me just in time, though, and helped me as I limped back over to the table.

"Ow," I said, pulling my ankle up so I could get a better look at the damage I'd done.

"Here, let me see," he said, grabbing my leg and pulling it towards him. I should have been surprised and should have pulled my leg back, but I didn't. He looked over my ankle. "I'll go get you some ice, okay?" I nodded. I watched him go up to the bar and get a glass full of ice, bringing it back to me. He pulled my leg back into his lap once more and put the ice to where it hurt. I jumped a little at the sudden temperature change and he just laughed. "I see what you mean," he said. "You ARE clumsy." I smiled and blushed and giggled. Gosh, I was such a girl. We sat there like that for a while, not saying anything and just watching the people go by. Our perfect moment was interrupted by Alice.

"Oh, my gosh, Bella, where were you? I've been looking all over for y-" she broke off when she saw who I was sitting with and figured out what had happened. "Bella, some guy finally asks you to dance and you go and get hurt!" she exclaimed and Edward laughed.

"Alice, no... just... Edward, this is my friend Alice, Alice, this is Edward," I said, waving to them to point them out to one another.

"I'm glad you asked Bella to dance. No one ever asks her to dance. No one's ever asked her out before either. She's just gonna end up and old maid unless she follows my lead." I threw her a glare telling her silently to shut up. Edward was a nice guy, and I didn't want to lose him. Alice suddenly grabbed my hand and pulled me up. I winced a little as my foot hit the floor, but for the most part, it was fine. I'd survive and I had already survived worse things.

"Thanks for the dance, Edward," I said, turning to smile at him. He smiled back.

"It's okay. I enjoyed it. It seems your getting better already," he noted.

"Yeah, I guess. Well, Alice wants to leave, but so, I hope I can see you later."

"Sure," he said as Alice towed me off in the other direction. I began to talk to her after we were out of the club.

"What was that, Alice? He might have actually started to like me if you would have just stayed out of it. Why did you have to embarrass me like that?"

"Bella, you want to be rich, right?"

"I guess..."

"Well, then, you have to stay away from guys like him. I'll admit, he was cute, but still... you have to be focused on this and work on getting Jacob. I know you and you were starting to like him, weren't you?" It was crazy, but I think I did. I'd only known him for a few minutes, but I felt like I'd always known him.

"Yes, I guess I was."

"And I know you, you would fall all over him at home and not make a move and let him consume your entire life and then, you'd miss out on your chance with Jacob." I had to admit, Alice knew me well. But with Edward... he was different than the other guys I'd met. We had a deeper connection. I just thought about this silently.

"Oh, I met someone!"

"After what you just said to me-" she cut me off.

"Not a guy, Bella, a girl. Someone who I could see being my friend. Her name is Rosalie, she's really, really pretty and has straight blonde hair that's completely gorgeous and the same color as Jasper's," she said his name dreamily before continuing. "Anyway, we started talking after she complimented my dress and we just hit it off, I guess. We exchanged numbers and I hope we can get to know each other better." I rolled my eyes. We were now in the apartment building and headed to the elevator. I went upstairs and showered, thinking about Edward. The way he held me, so perfectly. The way his eyes lighted up when he looked into mine. His skin against mine, his crooked smile- everything. After I got ready for bed, I just thought about the impossibility of us ever being together. Even if I wasn't planning to get Jacob to love me, I didnt' even have Edward's number or anything to contact him. All we would have together was this one night, but would that be enough for me?

_A/N: I liked this. I combined two chapters in this because originally, chapter 6 was where Edward came to talk to Bella and then chapter 7 was where they danced and Alice broke up the bonding without speaking thing. They were both fairly short, so I decided to put them together. I'm sorry that these are all so short, but that's just the way this story is going to be. Thanks for reading!_


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Twilight **_**or **_**Thoroughly Modern Millie. **_**I can wish, though.**

_A/N: Oreos help me think. No kidding. If you haven't done it before, go get some Oreos right now and some Betty Crocker cupcake icing and put it on an oreo, because it's amazing and will change your life, I swear (haha, like in _Garden State,_ when she's all, "Listen to this song, it'll change your life, I swear)... uh, *nervous cough*... well, I'm gonna write now so... uh, yeah...._

The weekend was almost unbearable because all I could think about was Edward. But I would never see him again, so I needed to focus on what was real and with me now. I needed to focus on work and not worry about my love life, unless it was going to be with Jacob.

I worked through the next week without anything drastic happening. Work was easy and I could handle it as Jacob piled more responsibilities on me. He continued to give me compliments, like, "You're the best, Bella," and "What would I do without you in my life?," and, "You're the best darn assistant I've ever had." I took these as good signs and tried to work on my plan for flirting inconspicuously with Mr. Black. I was just about to leave for my daily lunch with Alice, when a big, burly muscle builder type guy with curly black hair came up to my desk.

"Excuse me, but are you Jacob's new assistant?" he asked me, winking. I blushed a little bit, even though I didn't feel any attraction towards him at all. My type was... I stopped thinking about Edward quickly before looking back to the man.

"Yes, I am Mr. Black's new personal assistant. What can I help you with?" I asked politely, smiling.

"Well, I work downstairs, and Jake needed me to drop this off for him today and so I was just wondering if you'd give it to him," he said, handing me some papers and I laid them down on my desk.

"I will make sure that he gets them, Mr..."

"Just call me Emmett," he said.

"Alright then, I'll get them to him, Emmett."

"Thanks, cutie," he said, walking off in the way he came. I just stood there, staring after him, shocked that something like that just happened to me, in the workplace, especially. I shrugged it off and forgot about it as I went to meet Alice. Lately, we didn't always go to the coffee shop. We could go wherever we wanted now that we had our own paychecks. Today, we stopped to get Chinese. I told her about the thing with Emmett.

"Oh, my gosh, what a perv," she said as she struggled with her chopsticks to get the noodles in her plastic box.

"I know. He seemed nice up until then, but I just ignored him. Well, he winked, but I ignored that, too. I don't really mind. There was no harm intended by it," I prattled on.

"I would have decked him, but that's just me," she said through a mouthful of noodles. I just took my fortune cookie. and broke it up to get the fortune inside. It said "A surprise will await you tonight." What a load of crap. Really. I was just going to go home and do nothing tonight. There was no surprise to what my life held. If there was going to be a surprise, it would probably be a bad one, like our building burning down or the apartment getting robbed. I turned my attention back to Alice.

"I don't know. Emmett just... well, he reminded me of someone." Someone, but I didn't know who. "How's Jasper today?" I asked, knowing this would get her to talk.

"Oh, Bella, more handsome than ever! Today, he wore a gray suit with a bright blue silk tie and it compliments his eyes perfectly. And today, he asked me to go to the store room for me to look for something and he let me use _his_ key!" she said in her high pitched voice. I rolled my eyes. Even though I had the same plan as Alice, she took everything like a preteen girl. I was sensible, even if wanting to marry Jacob wasn't. I chuckled a little at the thought. Before we knew it, it was time for us to get back to our jobs. When I walked through the door of the building, Emmett was there.

"Hey, there," he greeted me as I gave him a little smile and he followed after me. "Sorry about earlier. You looked a little freaked out after all of that. I'm really not a perv," he said. I smiled back.

"It's okay."

"Well, just wanted to apologize for that. What's your name again?"

"I didn't say it. It's Bella," I replied as I held out my hand for him to shake it. He shook it firmly. "Well, I have to get back to work," I said, starting back towards my desk.

"Okay, well, I'll see you around," he said, waving as I turned to go to my desk. I was glad he had cleared up everything from earlier. It didn't seem like he was coming onto me, either. It was like he just wanted us to be friends and our connection was like he was the older brother and I was the little sister. I thought he seemed very nice and I hoped I could get to know him a little better as time went on.

After work, I was dead tired, still thinking about the days events. Alice getting closer to Jasper (or so she thought), wanting Jacob to see me as more than an assistant, Emmett, Edward, my fortune cookie. I still had the fortune in my pocket and I reached in to grab it instinctively as I walked out the door. I pulled it out once more to read it before laughing.

"Ha. Yeah, right," I said before looking, getting ready to cross the street. Just then, I saw the person who had haunted all of my thoughts in the past week and he was standing right over on the other side of the street.

_A/N: I almost combined this with the next chapter, but I wanted it to be a cliffhanger, bwa ha ha. Thank you for all of you who continue to read and review, you make my day and you are amazing. I hope you're enjoying the story so far, because I am truly enjoying being able to write this._


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Twilight **_**or **_**Thoroughly Modern Millie. **_**I can wish, though.**

_A/N: Inspiration for this chapter comes from the movie _Wanted. _I have it on right now as I'm writing and I love it, plus, James McAvoy is freaking amazing. Oh, before I write: best part of the movie is where they flip the car for his second assassination, and he's like, "I'm sorry," right before he shoots the guy. Best part, really. Or the part where he tells off his boss and hit his friend with the keyboard. And, the reason I decided to post this now is because I won't be here tomorrow, so there, 2 chapters in one day!_

I was at the crosswalk, but the light was red. It took all the strength I had in my body not to dash out in front of rush hour traffic just to stop him. I didn't know what I was going to say. I fidgeted nervously as I waited for the light to change. When it did, I practically ran across the street until I caught up with him. I only tripped once, so that was good.

"Edward!" I shouted as I grabbed onto his shoulder. He turned to me and a smile lit up his face.

"Bella! What are you doing here?" he asked. I was relieved that he remembered my name. It made me more confident that he wasn't that guy that went along from girl to girl, just trying to take advantage of her in clubs.

"Oh, I work over at Eclipse, Jacob Black's personal assistant. He's the-"

"Editor-in-chief, I know." I looked at him surprised.

"How do you know?" I asked, shocked. He shrugged.

"I don't live under a rock, I actually get out and go places. My mom reads Eclipse," he said, looking away from me and down at his shoes. "Do you want to go get coffee or something? Because I have nothing to do and you look like you need to unwind from a hard day's work." I smiled at the offer.

"Uh, sure. I'd love to. Alice will be wondering where I am, but that really doesn't matter. She can wait," I said as he held out his arm and I linked mine with his. It felt nice to walk this way. Just our arms together. When we arrived at the coffee shop I normally went to with Alice, he unlinked himself from my arm and went to hold the door open for me. I went inside first, out of the heat and into the nice air conditioning, as he followed behind me. I ordered my regular coffee and he ordered the same. We took a seat in comfy red chairs by the window. I leaned back and crossed my legs, completely comfortable, not only from the chair, but because Edward made that sense of peace wash over me when I was with him.

"So, how did you get the job at Eclipse? You don't look like you have enough experience, I mean, you're- how old are you?" he asked. I should have been insulted that he asked how old I was, but I wasn't like Alice - touchy about my age. I was only eighteen, for goodness sakes!

"Eighteen," I answered automatically.

"That's what I thought. I'm good with guessing ages and I'm good at reading people. You're different, though. I can't see what it is about you that's so fascinating-" he broke off like he'd said something wrong, like he was going to scare me off. I just blushed as I thought about what I was going to say next.

"You know, it's going to sound really strange, and you're probably going to think I'm some crazy woman, but I... I haven't stopped thinking about you since we danced that night," I said, never looking at his face for fear of what I'd see. No matter what his reaction was, I would be scared. If he was freaked out, I would be worried about never seeing him again and him hating me. If he was pleased, then I would be worried about liking him back, since I had my plan with Jacob. I took a deep breath before looking at him. He was smiling with adoration.

"I was just thinking the same thing," he said when I finally met his eyes. The mood was too intense, and I needed a subject change.

"So, what do you do for a living?" I asked. "I mean, I'm just curious..." I trailed off.

"Actually, I don't do anything right now. Out of work, I guess you could say," he said, chuckling a little bit. I raised one eyebrow skeptically.

"And how old are you?" I asked. It was only fair, since he asked my age, and I was a WOMAN, too.

"Nineteen," he answered. He was so much closer to my age than Jacob. Jacob was around thirty. It would be so much easier with Edward... I noticed I was staring at Edward and I stopped and looked away.

"So what are your financial plans for the future?" I asked like a mother worried about her child. He laughed.

"I'm actually- that's really ironic, because I was just thinking about that."

"Oh." We sat there quietly for a moment.

"So, what are yours?" he asked, his eyes burning.

"Um, well, I hope to continue working at Eclipse and I'm going to college, but Alice and I have other plans for financial stability," I said.

"Which would be what?" I didn't know if I should tell him.

"She-" I broke off, laughing a little. "Well, she wants me to marry my boss and she wants to marry hers, but-" I laughed some more, "that's ridiculous. It's just... we both come from fairly poor families, and we want to be provided for. So, our plan for having that is to marry rich men. I know, I sound shallow right now, but... I don't know why I'm telling you this," I said apologetically. His gaze made me spill my guts in two seconds. The boy could dazzle, I'd give him that.

"You know how ridiculously idiotic that sounds, correct?" he asked, laughing a little bit.

"Yeah," I said, sighing.

"Are you making any progress on that, then?"

"Not at all," I answered.

"Well, then, if you need someone that's there for you right now, you could go to a party with me. It's being held by... by a friend of mine." I really couldn't say no to him. He really did have me at "Hello." I smiled and nodded at him, blushing, I was sure. We had both finished our coffee and were now preparing to leave. "So, how about I meet you right here after work Friday. I'll give you time to go home and get changed or rest or whatever. So, around 6:30, I guess? The party starts at seven."

"Sounds great." We were now right outside the door. He was heading right and I was heading left. We didn't really know what to do to say "goodbye" properly, so we just waved a little awkwardly. "See you," I said.

"Yeah, later," he said as he walked off. I sighed at the sight of him walking away. I couldn't wait until I could see him again. Alice was going to flip, but I wasn't sure if it would be a good flip, or a bad flip. I pondered this nervously as I went home in the June heat.

_A/N: I really enjoyed writing this chapter!!!!!! Thanks for all of the wonderful reviews and please keep them coming. Thank you for reading!_


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Twilight **_**or **_**Thoroughly Modern Millie. **_**I can wish, though.**

_A/N: I wasn't going to write a chapter today, since I'm so far ahead. Today, I posted Chapter 4, and I'm now writing Chapter 9. But, my French teacher went to Montreal over Christmas and she bought "the class" Eclipse in French, but she really bought it for me because I've been begging her for more French books. And I was happy, because my mom and I just bonded over the Bachelor. What'd you think about the preview? The whole, "SHE'S A WHORE!" or whatever? Oh, and DEANNA IS COMING BACK!!!!! If anyone else watches that or the Bachelorette, please PM or comment about this and tell me what you're thinking!!!! I'm dying to know!!!! Anyway, back in fanfiction world...._

I came into the apartment sweating bullets, but not because of the heat from outside. I had to tell Alice about my meeting, but she would say that I wasn't committing to our plan. I was a horrible liar, and I couldn't hide anything from her, so I walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water, right before Alice walked in behind me.

"Hey, how was the rest of the day?" I nearly choked on my water from nervousness.

"Fine. Emmett apologized," I said quietly, still not looking at her. I took another drink. She snorted.

"Really? That's a surprise. From what you told me about him, he doesn't seem like the type of guy who could do that," she said, opening the fridge for some leftover Chinese.

"Yeah." I paused. The guilt was too much. I couldn't handle it. "I SAW EDWARD TODAY AND TALKED TO HIM!" I blurted out, catching myself. I started breathing harder and I knew my eyes were bulging. I also could tell I was pale, not blushing like normal. To my surprise, Alice burst out laughing. "WHAT?" I asked, still nervous and not meaning to shout. I took a few deep breaths to calm myself as Alice replied.

"I don't think that talking to him is a big deal."

"WHAT?!" Now I was meaning to shout. "After all that crap you gave me at the club-"

"Hey, I could tell. Your foot was in his lap and there was a connection. If I'd have let you sit there with him, your future with Jacob would be ruined now." I sighed. There was no winning with Alice and I could do nothing right. I suddenly wasn't feeling very hungry, so I went to my room and locked the door, laying down on my bed. I wanted to cry. I wanted to be with Jacob, but I _wanted _to be with Edward. There was that automatic attraction to Edward, that physical connection, chemistry. With Jacob, it was just him giving me orders and smiling at me. What did I really know about Jacob, actually? I heard a knock at my door and some jingling as Alice picked the lock and came in. She sat on the bed next to me and put an arm around my shoulders, rubbing them.

"What did you and Edward talk about?" she asked. I knew she was trying to make up for her fickle mind. She sometimes reminded me of the song "Hot n Cold" by Katy Perry, but I still loved her, and I really did need an excuse to talk about Edward.

"Well, we talked about work," _and how he doesn't have any,_ I added mentally, "and Jacob and our plan." Alice's eyes widened, but she didn't say anything about it.

"Go on..."

"And he asked me out to a party on Friday..."

"And..."

"I said 'yes.'" Alice looked like she was gathering her thoughts now.

"Well, if you wanna do that, go right ahead. But don't come running back to me when it doesn't work out." She didn't say these words in a mean way, she said them like she cared and didn't want me to get hurt. I smiled a little.

"Thanks, Al, but I really am a big girl, no matter what you might think. I can handle it," I said, leaning back farther onto my bed. She left me then, giving me one last sad look before shutting the door behind her. A few minutes later, she was back.

"Hey, Rose just called and she wants to meet for lunch tomorrow. You up?" she asked.

"Sure," I replied unenthusiastically as she walked out the door once more.

The next morning, I was committed to my Jacob plan. I decided to wear a shorter skirt than usual and a blouse that was lower as well. I still skipped on the heels, though. I wasn't ready for that... yet. I got several glances from men and women as I walked down the street, something I was a little uncomfortable with, since it was so foreign to me. I didn't know why people were looking at me, I didn't really look very different than any other day. Maybe it was because I was trying to be confident like Alice. Maybe it was just my day.

As soon as I walked through the doors, I heard Jacob whistle. He was up on the second floor ledge looking down at me. I scowled at him and he laughed. I walked up to my desk and laid everything down perfectly, getting ready for Jacob to walk in.

"Sorry I'm late, Bella, lots of traffic," he said as he walked back to his office. He got a few steps past me before taking a few steps back to look at me.

"Is that a new outfit?" he asked.

"Yes," I said, trying not to freak out at the fact that I was hoping to flirt with my boss at some point today.

"It looks good on you. Gosh, I didn't mean that in an unprofessional way at all," he said apologetically. I got up and walked to him.

"Oh, I don't mind," I whispered seductively.

"Well, anyway, I have to get to that production meeting we're having. Could you file this for me?" he asked, handing me some papers. He didn't even notice my flirting at all. All through the morning, I would do things like that, try to make my words have a double meaning, but it didn't work. Argh. It came to be lunchtime and Emmett came up to my desk like he had yesterday.

"Hey, Bella, how's it going?" he asked casually.

"Not as good as I had hoped," I sighed.

"Sorry about that. Hey, do you wanna grab some lunch with me? My buddies just bailed and I just wondered if you could come with me. Just as friends, you know," he said. And I did know. As I had said before, there were no sparks at all with Emmett and I. He was very friendly and easy to get along with, but he was like a brother.

"Well, actually, Alice, my friend mentioned about us getting together with one of her friends, and I was gonna go with them, but I'm sure they'll let you come. They're supposed to meet me here any time now."

"Sure, sounds cool." We didn't say anything for a while and I had a question rising up inside me that I needed to get out.

"Hey, Emmett..."

"Yeah?"

"Well, I was just wondering... what attracts a guy?" I asked sheepishly. He laughed.

"Bella, are we having a little guy trouble?" I blushed. He took in my outfit and stifled a laugh. "Oh, I see what this is about. Little Bella doesn't think she's sexy," he said, laughing.

"Shhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!" I hushed him, embarrassed. "It's not that. I've gotten looks from every guy today, and even some girls... but the guy I've wanted to notice me just... hasn't." I admitted.

"Hey, it's okay," he said, now comforting me. He pulled me into a quick hug, and it felt nice to be held by a friend, a male friend, who had no intention of getting in your pants. He let go and a few moments later, Alice walked in with Rose right behind her.

"You must be Rosalie," I said to the beautiful blonde girl in front of me. She was completely gorgeous and looked like she should be on the cover of Sports Illustrated. I shook her hand.

"And you must be Bella," she said sweetly. Her eyes turned to Emmett. "And who is your friend here?"

"Yeah, Bella, who's your friend?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Everyone, this is Emmett, Emmett, this is Alice and Rosalie," I said. Emmett couldn't take his eyes off of Rosalie and she couldn't take her eyes off of him. I rolled mine.

"Oh, so that's Emmett," Alice whispered to me. "I see what you mean," he said as we started walking to the coffee shop.

_A/N: I got to add more in this chapter than I thought I would!!!!! Yay!!!!! Next chapter should be fun, but this one was surprisingly fun!!!!! I'm sooooooooooo glad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for reading and please review!!!!!_


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Twilight **_**or **_**Thoroughly Modern Millie. **_**I can wish, though.**

_A/N: I'm sorta tired right now, since all I've done is write since I got home from school. First, a history paper, then an English paper. Now, fanfiction.... this is actually worth writing, though._

Still not dodging glances, I walked with them to the coffee shop and we actually sat at a table, which was a huge difference for Alice and I. We usually either sat up by the window or in the big red sofas in the corner. Rosalie and Emmett wouldn't shut up the entire way and I was trying extremely hard to block them out. I'd caught on that Rose was very conceited and Emmett was, to an extent. They were flirting nonstop and I wanted to blow my brains out. Alice just smiled at my frustration and we got our food.

"What are you guys doing tonight?" Rosalie asked Alice and me once we had gotten our food.

"Nothing at all," Alice trilled. She started drinking the foamy cappuccino as I took a bite of my bagel. I didn't like where this was going...

"Well, if you guys want, I was wondering if you'd like to go out to the club tonight, you know, where Alice and I met." She turned to Emmett. "I really want you to come tonight," she said with a wink. Emmett looked like he was about to jump out of his seat with excitement.

"HELL YES!" he screamed, causing everyone in a thirty-five foot radius to turn their heads in our direction.

"Shhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!" I heard someone shush Emmett from across the room. We all started laughing hysterically.

"Yeah, we'll come," Alice said, getting back to the conversation and speaking for me. I didn't even object. I knew that Alice would drag me out anyway.

"Okay, cool, you wanna meet at the club at about eight?" Rosalie asked.

"Sure!" Alice agreed. It was a little late for me, but I'd live.

The rest of the day, I quit trying to flirt with Jacob. I always had the next day, and the next day, and... the next day? Every day became more uncertain because of Edward. Everything would have gone smoothly if his perfect face, beautiful body, and sparkling eyes had just stayed out of it. I pondered this the rest of the day. What was I going to do? Really...

When I got home, Alice was there waiting.

"Okay, here you go, throw this on," she said, throwing me a green dress. It wasn't an ugly green, though. It different shades with polka dots and had straps that crossed over my back. It came down to my knees and was very nice, I had to say. Very Alice.

Alice soon came out from her room in a white dress with spaghetti straps. It looked very nice on her. She was also wearing white heels that made her red toe nail polish pop out. She handed me a pair of green heels. They were pretty, but I couldn't wear them.

"Alice, no," I whined, putting them on. I was going to fall at some point tonight, I just knew it.

"Bella, come on, I need to do your hair," she said, pulling me into the bathroom and throwing me down on the toilet seat. She brushed my hair and got out the curling iron, curling it into soft waves that cascaded down my bare back. She did my makeup and I had to admit, I didn't look half bad. Alice then worked on herself and we were ready to go.

When we got to the club, it was already completely packed, especially for a Tuesday night. I went to the same table I had the other night, but this time, Alice joined me and we were soon accompanied by Rosalie and Emmett, who were still flirting with each other and were now holding hands. That's good. At least they could be together.

As the night went on, Emmett and Rose danced and drank, and Alice just danced. She didn't even had a partner, and she had the guts just to go out there by herself and move with the beat. I smiled at her and she noticed. She came back to the table and sat down next to me.

"I'm getting a little tired," she admitted.

"What? Alice? Tired?" I asked, still smiling. Just then, Rose and Emmett walked up and sat next to Alice. Emmett turned to look at the crowd (actually, I think he was just checking all the girls out), when he waved at someone. I didn't see who, but soon, a girl with strawberry blonde curls that looked very familiar came up to our table, throwing her arms around Emmett's huge shoulders.

"Emmett!"

"Tanya!" The hug was getting a little long, and Rose looked like she was gonna take Tanya out. As soon as they broke apart, they turned back to us.

"Everyone, this is my cousin, Tanya," he said, making color come back to Rosalie's face a little bit.

"Gosh, Emmett, you're such a player. Surrounded by three beautiful girls? And these two look barely legal!" she said, faking shock.

"Yep! Both eighteen," Alice said, "but we're not dating Emmett. He just works with Bella here, and we just met today. Rosalie and I met in a club last week. I'm Alice," she said, extending her tiny hand to the blonde for her to shake. "Nice to meet you guys!" she said, smiling. She looked so familiar. I looked out into the club, daydreaming while the others talked. Eventually, Rosalie, Emmett, and Tanya all went out to dance. That's when I heard a huge scream come from beside me.

"OH MY GOSH, LOOK, OVER THERE!" I looked to see the man of Alice's dreams, Jasper Hale, over by the bar. Almost like he could sense her, Jasper turned and met her gaze. He started walking towards us, too slow for Alice to bear. She grabbed onto my arm and I felt her nails dig into my skin.

"Hey, Alice," he said smoothly. Looking at him now, out of the suit in just blue jeans and a white t-shirt, I could see why Alice had such a crush on him. He was extremely cute, but just not for me.

"Hi, Mr. Hale," she said, slightly breathless.

"Please, call me Jasper. We're off duty," he said, winking. "And since we're off duty, would you like to dance with me?" he asked, extending his hand. Alice restrained her squeal and kept her cool, placing her hand lightly in his palm as he led her out to the dancefloor. I watched them from the sidelines, smiling. Their hands were definitely drifting towards places you shouldn't touch your co-workers... you definitely shouldn't be able to dance this way with your boss. The entire time, they were making eye contact and it was like they were having a conversation, just the two of them. Unexpectedly, when the dance ended, Jasper bent down to kiss Alice's cheek and she smiled and blushed like I would have done if it was Edw- Jacob. I stopped myself mentally. I turned back to the couple and they were saying a goodbye and he walked away.

"Oh. My. Gosh." Alice said, gasping. She was happier than I'd seen her in a long time and it was good to know my friend's dreams were coming true. We sat there for a few seconds before Rosalie walked up.

"Hey, I think we're gonna go, because I just got a ride home, and I don't feel like walking in heels anymore," she said.

"Okay, well, I guess I'll see you later," Alice said, standing up to hug Rose.

"Yeah," she said.

"Bye, Rose," I said right before she turned.

"Bye, Bella," she called to me over the music.

When we got home, it was about 10:30. It was relatively early and Alice and I both had a chance to take showers before heading to bed. That night, we slept in the same bed, like we had when we were little at sleepovers. Alice just kept prattling on about how fantastic Jasper was and I listened with enthusiasm. I was thrilled that she was happy, so happy to see her like this. I just hoped someday I could be as happy as she was right now.

_A/N: Woo, Jasper!!!!! Yay!!!!! Links to dresses will be on my profile... I'm really tired and going to bed. Nothing new, bye!_


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Twilight **_**or **_**Thoroughly Modern Millie. **_**I can wish, though.**

_A/N: Finals are coming up, so I have no idea how postings are going to work. Today, I'm going to try to write a chapter or two, just so I can get ahead. Not to mention I have Wizard of Oz practice Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. After I finish this fanfiction, I probably won't write one for a while. Not until about March, probably._

Alice was completely euphoric. All she could talk and think about was Jasper Hale. He had been talking to her more at work now and she had been flirting more, as she had told me. We talked about it at lunch every day, and she kept pestering me about Jacob, but I hadn't done anything more about it. I had a plan, though...

I was worried about Friday all week. I was nervous about everything and everyone. Nervous about the party, nervous about my plan with Jacob, nervous about seeing Edward again, because every time I was around him, I had those butterflies in my stomach that never seemed to go away. I didn't know what I was going to do about him. He knew about my plan, but did I really want to go through with it now that I had met him? And if I did continue to marry Jacob, would Edward still want to be my friend? Could I still be his friend? I didn't know. I did know that I didn't think I would ever see Edward as anything less than perfect.

On Friday afternoon, I was at work, and I went to change for the party. I had brought my clothes to the office so that I wouldn't have to go home to get it, but also so that Jacob could see it. It was blue, a color that had always managed to make me look good. It was a halter dress, one side longer than the other, with layers. Alice had picked it out for me on her last shopping trip, and I figured it would be perfect for tonight. The dress was formal, yes, but it seemed like the perfect thing, no matter what. I just had a feeling.

Jacob didn't have any meetings this afternoon, so I figured that this would be the perfect time to show this to him. I went to the bathrooms to put on my dress and makeup right before work was over. My hair had been up in a bun all day, so when I let my hair down, it was in perfect waves down my back. I didn't have to do anything to it, which was a good thing. Makeup was simple. I didn't want to put too much on, so I just added a little more than what I had put on in the morning. I thought I looked as good as I was going to get, so I put on the little jacket I had brought with me and walked back to my desk.

When I got back to my desk, I put on the heels Alice had also bought for me. They were fancy, with things hanging off of the strap around my ankle and fake diamonds down the strap that went down the center. The heel would be a concern of mine, but for right now, I didn't really care. I needed to get Jacob to notice me. Just then, he called me into his office.

"Bella, could you come in here for a sec?" he asked.

"Sure, Mr. Black," I called innocently. I took off my jacket and walked in, hearing his breath intake.

"Uh, umm, Bella, could you tell me what time my meeting is Monday morning?" I had his schedule basically memorized.

"Eleven, and then after lunch you have to go down and look at what they have picked out for the feature," I said. Jacob hadn't quit looking at me, and I was overjoyed, but I didn't show it. I _was _making progress. "What do you think of my dress, Mr. Black?" I asked, turning so he could see all of it.

"Well, uh, Bella, you- you look... you're a knockout, Bella," he said, struggling to maintain his composure. I smiled.

"Thank you," I said, still smiling.

"Bella!!!" I heard someone call. I turned to see Tanya running through the doors to Jacob's office, her strawberry blonde curls bouncing as she through her arms around my neck. She was extremely well dressed and completely beautiful, so much better looking than me, and I paled in comparison to her.

"Bella, you're so pretty!"

"Thanks, Tanya," I said, a little angry that she had come in. She came in just as I was about to pounce and stolen my thunder. I turned back to Jacob, and saw him eyeing Tanya. "Why are you here?" I asked, a little ruder than I probably should have asked, but she didn't seem to notice.

"I came to visit Emmett and he said you worked here too, so I decided to come up and find you. Who's this, Bella?" Tanya said as I turned back to see her looking at Jacob. Oh, no.

"Oh, sorry, this is my boss, Jacob Black, the editor-in-chief," I said. "Mr. Black, this is Tanya, a friend. I'm sorry, we shouldn't be back here, I'll just wait to talk to her until I get off," I said, turning to leave. I was completely pale and felt sick to my stomach.

"Oh, it's no big deal, Bella, I'll let you off early today," he said, reaching over to shake Tanya's hand. She blushed. I went back to my desk to log off of my computer and sulk. I ignored their laughing and chatting. After my computer was good and shut down, I went into Jacob's office, putting my jacket back on. My flirting was done for the day.

"Hey, I'm leaving, Mr. Black. Tanya, are you coming?" I asked.

"Actually, no, I'm just going to stay here and chat with Jacob for a while, if you don't mind." My mind was screaming, _Hell yes, I mind, bitch!_ but that's not what I actually said.

"No, Tanya, of course I don't mind." I turned to go without saying a goodbye.

_A/N: Sorry this is so short. I was going to combine this chapter with the next one, but then I decided not to because hey, this is a chapter, and I'm busy, so there... in case I don't get around to writing anything, you have a chapter._


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or Thoroughly Modern Millie. I can wish, though.**

_A/N: Winter storm headed my way, so if the power's out, don't tell me I didn't warn you. Anyway, writers' block is setting in right now and I can't think of a way to make this a longer chapter... well, here it goes._

I took my jacket off once I got outside because it was too hot to keep it on, even in this late in the afternoon. I rushed down the street, my heels uncharacteristically clicking. People were looking at me, but I had no idea why. I just had to focus on not falling on my face and working on getting Jacob out of my head before I met Edward. It wouldn't be fair to him if I was thinking of some other guy-

Wait a minute, just a minute... was I actually considering Edward's feelings in all of this? I knew I wasn't one to just be uncaring about someone elses feelings and all, but I was actually going to treat Edward like... like he was more than a friend? No. No. No. No. I couldn't do that. I really couldn't let him come in and do this. I reached the coffee shop and sat down, looking at my hands. I had nothing better to do and I didn't want anything to drink. I was over an hour early, but I didn't care. I could handle being here alone. I would need it if I was going to be around people all night. I wasn't good with crowds or people. No matter how much I told myself that no one's opinion mattered than my own, I couldn't forget that other people were judging me.

"Hey, there," a velvety voice said as a shadow blocked the light I was getting from the window. I looked up into Edward's emerald eyes, feeling so safe and sure about the night to come that I couldn't worry about anything, even if I tried. He held out his hand to help me up. To my embarrassment, as he pulled me up, I tripped over my heels and fell into him as he steadied me. "Whoa, walk much?" he said jokingly. I blushed as he took my hand and pulled me out of the coffee shop.

"So, where exactly are you taking me?" I asked as the sun was setting over the city. The streetlamps were coming on around us and the streets were getting more crowded, surprisingly. It was a Friday night, so everyone was coming out. It was so much different here than it was in Forks, truly. No one went out on Friday nights in Forks, unless you count the ten people (maybe) that went up to Port Angeles.

"It's just ... it's the house of someone close to me," he said, looking a little confused and frustrated, though I didn't know why. I just shrugged it off and went walking along with him. We had slowed now to a slower pace, but still fairly fast. We turned a corner and I noticed we were headed to the good part of town, where rich people lived. Edward must have hung out with better people than I had originally thought. We reached a big, fancy building that was nicer than anything I'd ever seen before. Edward led me in the door and we were greeted by hordes of people that I didn't know or had no idea who they were. But that was to be expected. I didn't know anyone in New York, really, apart from Alice and my co-workers and Edward and Tanya. All I heard were things like, "Oh, Edward, who is this?" and "Edward, you look so nice." I really hadn't taken the time to notice how nice he looked tonight. He was wearing a nice white shirt, covered by a dressy black jacket and black dress pants, much different than his usual jeans and tee-shirt.

Every time some random person, Edward would introduce me as "Bella, my friend." I stayed by his side most of the evening, too scared to go out and mingle.

"Edward, I'm sorry I'm sort of glued to your side right now, but I'm really really nervous for no reason at all."

"Bella, it's completely all right. I can understand if you're a little overwhelmed. Hey, there's someone really special I want you to meet," he said, linking my arm with his and taking me around the room. I was hungry and there was a table of refreshments, but I didn't bother eating anything. I was too nervous and didn't want to puke all over someone. Edward led me up to a woman who looked like she was in her mid-thirties. She had soft, light brown hair that was very wavy and long. She looked so completely familiar. Just like Tanya had looked familiar to me the other night at the club. Of course, Tanya was the girl Edward had been dancing with before we met! I fought the urge to gasp at my epiphany when Edward spoke.

"Bella this is my... this is Esme, and Esme, this is my friend, Bella." I did gasp this time. I knew exactly who this was. The woman who had been on the back cover of one of my favorite books.

"Oh, my gosh. Esme Cullen?" I said, shocked as she nodded. "No way! _Like a Moonless Night _is probably my favorite book of all time!" I said, still starstruck. She laughed as I blushed and took a step back.

"It's fine, dear. I'm glad to meet a fan. I love what I do and I do it for the fans. I'm truly glad to see Edward has made a _friend_ and I'm glad to meet you, Bella," she said, extending it towards me as I took it loosely. I couldn't believe that I was touching my favorite author of modern fiction. She smiled warmly before pulling her hand away. "Now, I'd better go off and see about a few things," she said, scurrying off back towards the back hallway.

"You never told me you knew Esme Cullen!" I said, whacking Edward playfully on the arm.

"You never asked," he said, smiling widely now. The rest of the evening was uneventful and soon, it was late and Edward suggested he should walk me home. We walked arm in arm back to the apartment, talking about what had happened over the night. I had so many questions: if he didn't have a job and since he seemed like a pretty normal guy, what was he doing around people like that? I didn't want to be rude, but I was curious. It didn't make any sense at all. I didn't ask him, though. We reached the door to my apartment and I had a funny feeling inside me. I didn't want to say goodnight, not yet. I'd had too much fun, and being with Edward was amazing. I felt such chemistry, such a connection with him that I didn't have with Jacob. Jacob was a nice, friendly type of guy, but Edward... he might be the real deal.

"Did I mention how beautiful you looked tonight?" he said, leaning towards me a little farther. I should have felt like he was coming onto me or trying to do something, but I didn't. I couldn't breathe and I couldn't speak while his face was so close to mine. I did something completely and totally unlike me. I leaned my face closer and closer to his until we were kissing. I felt his hands press into my back, and could feel his fingertips on my bare back. I ran my fingers up and down his arms, over his shoulders, around his neck, and through his already messy hair. It felt unreal. Unlike anything I'd ever experienced before. I broke away from him, turning towards the door, smiling.

"I don't think you did, actually."

"You are. I don't think anything has ever been so true in the history of mankind." He leaned over and wrapped his arms around my waist once more, only hugging me this time. He smelled so good and I wasn't ready for him to go.

"Edward, you don't have to go," I said, pleading almost.

"No, I'd love to stay with you for a while, but I probably should get back to the party and help Esme clean up. She's probably a nervous wreck right now," he said, smiling at his thoughts, I guessed. He leaned over to kiss my cheek before I unlocked my door and let myself in. Alice wasn't home... still out with Jasper, I guessed. That only made me feel worse because of what I'd just done.

I leaned back against my door, slowly sinking to the floor. Tears filled my eyes and sobs escaped my lips before I could stop them and force them back. No matter what would happen, someone would end up hurt. If I went with Edward, I'd be hurting myself and my chances at a life of luxury and wealth. But if I did what my heart wanted (at least, that's what I thought it wanted), then Edward would be crushed (wishful thinking told me so), and I couldn't live with him hurt. So it was all up to me now. And the game of my life had just gotten so much more exciting.

_A/N: A few _Millie _song references right there... guess 'em! Oh, and a _Twilight_ one too!_


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or Thoroughly Modern Millie. I can wish, though.**

_A/N: The winter storm is here, so if I'm off tomorrow, I can maybe get in an extra chapter or two._

I sat on the couch, unmoving, hardly breathing. I had managed to crawl over there and lay down. I had way too much on my mind to be able to function properly, so I kept the lights off and stared out the window into the black night, seeing the lights from down below. I heard the voices of the clubbers, the noise of the passing vehicles. I hated to admit it, but this was a time where I wished I was back in Forks. If I hadn't have come to New York, I would be back at home, in my bed, thinking about things other than boys and love or money. I'd be able to be with my family, the people who loved me. And most of all, I wouldn't have met Edward- no, Jacob, I corrected myself.

I couldn't tell if meeting Edward was a bad thing or not. I truly did care for him, and I liked being with him, even if he did screw everything up for me. Just then, as I was distracted with Edward, I heard the door open and saw two figures coming back through the door, flipping on the lights. It was Alice and Jasper, their lips never parting as she was ripping the jacket off of his back and he was leaning against her, her body against the wall. And I had no idea what to do.

I sat there, my eyes wide and I tried to cough, but it just ended up being a wheeze. It was enough to get Alice's attention.

"Oh, goodness, Bella!" she exclaimed. I blushed and looked away, since I didn't know what else to do. I ruined the moment and Alice would probably kill me later.

"Hey, Bella," Jasper said casually, his lips a little pink from Alice's lipstick, his tie on sideways, and two random buttons undone on his shirt. Both of them had extremely messy hair and were casually smoothing it out.

"Fun time tonight, huh?" I asked.

"Yeah, sure," they both said in unison, causing them to laugh, soprano and bass. They really did look good together.

"Well, uh, do you want me to leave? I can come back in a little while-" I said, getting up. I had no idea where I'd be heading, but at least I'd get away from this and Alice could have a good time.

"No," Jasper said at the same time that Alice said "Yes." They both blushed, which I knew wasn't at all like Alice. She must really like this guy, I thought. "I should be getting home," Jasper said, leaning over to kiss Alice's cheek, before turning to pick up his jacket off the floor. Alice accompanied him to the door as I looked away and they said their goodbye's. I glanced over for a second to see them gazing into each other's eyes, so thoughtfully, so intimate. That's when I absolutely knew that he was right for Alice. I knew that they would live a long and happy life together. Now I sounded like Alice, what, with her feelings and things. I heard the door shut as Jasper left and Alice immediately ran over to me and started beating me with a pillow.

"Oh, MY GOSH, BELLA, YOU STUPID WHORE! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT? YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE OUT WITH EDWARD!!!!!" she screeched at the top of her high-pitched voice.

"OK, OK, Stop!" I yelled, pushing her off me and sitting back upright. She took a few deep breaths and calmed down. "I told you I wouldn't be out very late. And right now, it's two in the morning. If that isn't late, I don't know what it is."

"Bella, you don't have to sound like my mother," she said, crossing her arms and huffing a sigh.

"I'm not trying to sound like it, I'm just stating a fact, plain and simple." Alice thought about that for a while. We were both quiet, looking out the window like I had been doing before I was interrupted.

"You know, I think you're right. I'm sorry, Bella. I shouldn't have freaked out like that. I know that I really really like Jasper, and things are moving fast. But, I don't think they should move _that_ fast. If I would have slept with him, I would have probably regretted it later, for not waiting. It's just, he's so amazing!" She really did seem happy and I knew if I was in her situation, I would probably be pretty mad. But she was forgiven for flipping, and we hugged, so everything was all better.

"How was your thing, by the way?" Alice asked as she headed to the bathroom, taking off her earrings on the way.

"Oh, pretty good. You know how Edward said that he was going to take me to meet someone close to him?"

"Uh-huh..."

"Well, that someone close was Esme Cullen!" I screamed it, not caring who was up in the building. I was too excited.

"Who?" Of course Alice didn't know about authors.

"She wrote that book, the one I read all the time, _Like a Moonless Night_. That's my favorite book and she's definitely my favorite author," I said, in a dreamlike state.

"Anything else happen?" Alice said as I heard the faucet start up. I felt really guilty, and I needed to tell someone about what had happened.

"Uh, well, about that. See, don't freak out, everything's fine, but... umm, Edward walked me home-"

"Why would I care about that?" Alice said, laughing once. She knew something was up and she was going to pretend like nothing was up.

"Well, at the door, he said I was beautiful, and we... sorta kissed. And it was really good." I said, leaning back onto the couch so I couldn't be seen by her anymore.

"WHAT?!!!" she screamed, a toothbrush in her mouth.

"I couldn't help it! He's a nice guy, and I li-"

"What?" she asked again.

"I... nothing. I can't like him, I like Jacob, and I want to be with Jacob. I am going to be with Jacob," I said, very unconvincingly. I'd always been a really bad liar, but this was probably the worst one I'd ever told.

"Bella, that's a lie, and probably the worst one you ever told," she said after she finished brushing her teeth. She went over and wrapped her arms around my shoulders. "I don't know. You know how I feel about it. I think I'm going to bed," she said, kissing the top of my head and going to her bed. I went to change into my pajamas and went to my own bed, still conflicted, like I was every night.

Monday, I walked into work and was greeted by a curly-headed strawberry blonde perched on my desk. Jacob was sitting right next to her, laughing from his seat in my desk chair. She had on a skirt that was way, way, way too short and black, with an extremely low cut red top, and hookerish boots. She was cross-legged on the edge of the desk, leaning towards him, probably revealing more skin than necessary for friends to be showing. My heart just plummeted. First, she danced with Edward (before I even knew him, but still), then, she comes in and tries to steal my best friend and now, steal my future husband away from me! Argh! I put on my best smile and approached them.

"Hey, Tanya, it's _so_ great to see you!" She jumped off the desk, leaning over to give me a hug, her huge boobs nearly crushing me.

"Bella! I just dropped by to say 'hi' to Jake, and I decided to wait for you! I really wanted to talk to you. We should get together sometime!" she exclaimed, making me want to punch her in the face.

"Totally!"

"Well, bye!" she said, skipping over to Jacob, kissing him on the cheek before bounding out of the office. I knew my mouth was fully open and my eyes were bugging out of my head. I didn't know what I wanted to do. There were no words to describe the pain I wanted to cause Tanya right now. I was surprised what this jealousy had done to me, and it wasn't a good surprise. I shouldn't be thinking this way, it wasn't right or fair. But I couldn't help the animosity I felt towards her.

I went to my desk, rearranging the papers that Tanya had messed up. Jacob walked up behind me, his face extremely close to my ear.

"Wonderful, isn't she?"

"Wonderful," I said, looking down at the papers. I wasn't going to cry...

"I wanna order her flowers. Something nice for her. She's such a lovely person."

"Lovely, all right. Umm..." I had to stop to put my voice together. "There's a ... a flower shop around the corner from my apartment. I'll order from them."

"Okay. Roses, two dozen," he said.

"Two dozen," I repeated, writing down his instructions slowly.

"Long-stemmed."

"Long-stemmed," I said, my voice, now no more than a whisper.

"Plump," he said, walking into his office now.

"On the fat side." Now that he was gone, out of my sight, my tears overflowed and dropped with loud _thumps_ onto my desk. I laid my head down, trying to hide my face, that was surely red and blotchy now. When I knew I could maintain my composure, I pulled my head up and tied my hair back. What was the use of even fixing it if Jacob liked Tanya? Just before lunch, Jacob popped his head around the corner separating our offices.

"Bells, if you want, you can leave half-day today, at lunch, full pay. I've got meetings, and you do such a good job that you should get off today."

"Okay, Jac- I mean, Mr. Black," I said, blushing at my screw up. I'd been calling him Jacob so much in my head, it just slipped out.

"It's okay, don't worry. Actually, I'd prefer it if you called me Jacob," he said, winking at me. My heart didn't flutter the way that it would have if Edward would have made the same gesture. That thought made me sigh.

Alice had taken the day off today, so I was going to eat lunch alone today. It was fairly cool, so I decided that I would drink my coffee from the outside today, sitting underneath one of the umbrellas that was stuck into the table. I just watched all the people walking by, people walking slow, walking fast, young, old, weird. I happened to look down the street and saw a pair of hooker boots walking this way. My eyes slowly moved up the woman's body. She had stopped. Next, I saw her short black skirt, then her low cut blouse. Then her curly blonde hair. Tanya. And she was holding hands with Edward.

_A/N: OOOOOOOOOOOOO, cliffy. Sorry, but it was longer!!! Hope you enjoy it! Thanks and review!!! You rock!!!_


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or Thoroughly Modern Millie. I can wish, though.**

_A/N: I'm really, really, really, really, really sorry for not posting last night, but I was really tired. I have a study party for finals planned on Saturday, so I don't know if I can update then. I must say, I really liked the way the last chapter turned out, and you seemed to like it!_

They had stopped a little ways down the street from me, holding both of each other's hands. Tanya laughed and Edward smiled at whatever it was one of them said and it made me want to slap them... both. Edward had made me believe that he liked me and now, he was running around with that floozie. Edward leaned over to whisper something in her ear, then kissed her cheek. Tears filled my eyes more quickly than they had when Jacob had told me to order the flowers. Which reminded me that not only was Tanya breaking my heart right now, but she was also two-timing Jacob. I didn't have time to think about that right now, all I could think about was how Edward had crushed me.

Tanya now was walking towards a cab, waving back at Edward before climbing in, struggling in her short outfit. Edward started walking towards me. Oh, crap. He hadn't seen me yet, but he was bound to. As soon as I thought that, that's when Edward's eyes locked on me and he could tell that I had seen his little thing with Tanya. I couldn't think of anything to do except run. I got up from my seat, turned the other way, and pushed and shoved my way down the street. I heard Edward calling my name, but I didn't turn. Hopefully, he'd just give up. But I'm not that lucky. He caught up with me and pulled me around, pulling me up against him.

"Bella, I don't know what you think you saw-"

"I know EXACTLY what I saw," I yelled straight back at him. His eyes looked so sad, so hurt. It made me not want to yell at him, but I had to. If he was cheating on me... No, he couldn't be cheating on me if we weren't really going out. I had no idea what he was to me.

"It isn't like that with Tanya, if you'll-" I interrupted him again.

"Yeah, I'm sure it isn't. Just let me go," I said, tears still streaming down my cheeks. Automatically, his hands dropped from my arms as if they had been an electric fence. I backed away from him slowly before turning around and heading back to my apartment where no one could hear my sobs or see my puffy red face.

Monday, I had no desire to go to work. Tanya had ruined everything, and if she was there, I didn't know how I could handle myself. Alice had tried absolutely everything to try to get me to leave my bed. She'd said she'd take me to the movies, take me clubbing, buy me anything I wanted from the bookstore, she even bought me my favorite kind of ice cream and said we could have a "sleepover" like we used to do. I didn't want to do anything but lay in my bed thinking about how much life completely sucked without Edward, without Jacob. I didn't know if I could handle being without the both of them. Alice bursted into my room, though.

"Come on, get up. You can't let this get you down," she said, pulling on my hands, trying to get me to stand up. "Hey, guys have cheated on me many a time."

"Only because you cheated on them first," I countered. "But this is different. It makes it worse because I don't know what Edward and I are, and Tanya is messing around with both the guys that I like. I just don't know what to do," I said, huffing with exasperation.

"Really, Bella. You just have to put yourself out there even more for Jacob."

"You're only saying this to me because you've already practically gotten Jasper. If it hadn't have worked out for you, you'd be cursing the fact that you decided to come here in the first place. Just like I am now," I said, finally getting up. I wobbled for a second because sleeping all weekend and being clumsy doesn't make a good match.

"Even so... I've laid out your clothes already, so get showered and come for breakfast," she mentioned as my stomach grumbled. I couldn't remember the last time I'd eaten. Probably at the coffee shop right before... my eyes were brimming with tears at the thought. "Hey, hey, hey," Alice said, wiping the tears from my eyes. "Don't do this. It'll be fine, and you'll get the man of your dreams in the end, and he'll be smart and rich, and you'll love him as much as he loves you. If Edward has the balls to do this to you, then he doesn't deserve you. You're too good to be played, okay? Don't you forget that." She walked off, leaving me to have my privacy. My head fell into my hands as my body shuddered from the tears.

I pulled myself together long enough to be able to take a shower and get dressed. I went through breakfast quietly, not eating much. I had no appetite, but I knew I needed to eat. I walked to work and went through the glass doors, pretending that everything was alright. I was also pretending that I'd know what to expect when I walked to my desk today. I turned down the long hall before I reached my desk and I saw something that I definitely didn't expect to see: three big vases full of deep red roses.

I gasped and walked over, looking to see if there was a note that came with them. Of course there was.

"Bella,

Please talk to me. I need a chance to explain things myself. You deserve better than this.

Edward"

I couldn't breathe at all. When I could, it came in wild gasps through my lips. All the composure I'd gained over the morning I lost in this instant. I wanted to believe he actually cared about me. I wanted to believe that he wasn't with Tanya. But there was no possible way that he could like me. There wasn't.

Edward was completely the opposite of the type of guy that would be attracted to me. He was handsome, smart, fun to be around. He had the prettiest eyes and was so sweet (well, until I'd seen him with Tanya). There wasn't really anything that would make me attractive to a guy like that. I was completely plain, quiet, a bookworm who would rather curl up with _Sense and Sensibility _rather than go to a club with a friend.

"Who are those from?" I heard a loud, booming voice ask me as I tried to clear my throat conspicuously.

"Oh, nobody," I said, my voice nasally from crying. Gross.

"Really, who is it?" Emmett said.

"A jerk trying to make amends," I said with a short, hard laugh at the end.

"What'd he do?"

"He was a lying cheater," I said. Emmett laughed.

"I wouldn't talk about my boss that way if I were you," he said, causing me to cry more. Luckily, I was early and Jacob hadn't arrived yet. Emmett was at my side in a second, wrapping his massive arms around me as I buried my head in his chest and cried. I felt so secure in Emmett's arms, like nothing could bother me, nothing would hurt me. Like Emmett would fight off anything to make me safe, to protect me.

"It's not Jacob," I said in between sobs, "It's a guy named Edward Masen." Emmett stopped breathing for a second before he laughed and pulled away from me. "What?" I asked, his hands still on my shoulders.

"Bella, I think you should give him a second chance." Now, he had stopped laughing and was completely serious, something that was odd for him.

"Why?" Emmett looked like he was struggling for an answer.

"He- I'm sure that any guy would miss being around you. Jacob- he isn't right for you, in my opinion. You should give Edward a second chance." With that, he headed away from my desk, leaving me alone to be with the flowers that came from a traitor.

_A/N: I like this chapter. It was good for me to write something depressing. I really liked the Bella/Emmett moment there, and I hope you guys did too. Please review and favorite and all that good stuff. Thank you so so so so so much for reading and hopefully I can get you another chapter tomorrow._


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or Thoroughly Modern Millie. I can wish, though.**

_A/N: So, this story is turning out to be a lot shorter than I thought. It might be about 3 more chapters. I'm not quite for sure, then, I'll give my thank you note afterward and say what my plans for the future are._

The next day, I walked into work and was greeted by more flowers. This time, they came with a different note.

"Bella,

I miss you so much. I wish you would talk to me and help me clear this up. I don't want to loose you.

Edward"

After that, his phone number was repeated several times all over the card. Next to those were the flowers I had received the day before. I'd left them at the office because I didn't want to bring them home. I didn't want to deal with what Alice had to say, I didn't want to see them at my office, let alone my home, yet, I couldn't bear to get rid of the things. It would be so disrespectful to Edward, and I just couldn't let go of a part of him, something he'd given me.

I found myself thinking of him all the time. And they weren't bad things like how much of a cheater he was. It was like none of the thing with Tanya had ever happened, like before. I thought of how his eyes sparkled, how his hair looked in the wind, little gestures he tended to make. It wasn't just physical things, either. I replayed all of the conversations we'd ever had, every little thing we'd said to one another. I remembered every minute detail, the way I'd felt when he'd held me, when he'd kissed me.

I wanted to believe that it all wasn't a lie, but I couldn't. Deep down, I think I did. I knew he still liked me, but the little nagging part of my brain didn't want to think he could still be even remotely interested in me. It didn't want me to be happy.

Over the next week, the flowers continued, and my desk looked like a funeral home. More and more flowers poured in, and wouldn't just be there in the morning, but they came in during random times of the day too. At lunch. Before I left. During Jacob's 3 o'clock meeting. After a week of that, that's when the phone calls started.

"Eclipse Magazine, Jacob Black's office, this is Bella speaking, how may I help you?" I said, not looking at the caller ID.

"Bella, I've missed you so much, I just need to explain things-" Edward's voice said from the end of the line. I hung up, completely shocked and caught off-guard. The phone rang again, almost instantly after I'd hung up. Just then, Jacob walked into the room.

"Eclipse Magazine, Jacob Black's office, this is Bella speaking, how may I help you?" I said, a bit more enthusiastic than normal, due to the fact that Jacob was in the room and I was nervous about hearing Edward's voice.

"Bella, we need to talk. Meet me at the coffee shop after work today. If you don't show up, I'll just wait there every day after five until you do," he said. I didn't want to respond to him, but I had to say something, since Jacob was probably listening a little.

"I don't think that that's possible, I'm sorry," I said. Why was I apologizing to _him?_ "Goodbye." I hung up the phone before hanging my head in despair. Jacob then came up to me, rubbing his hand along my shoulderblades, back and forth, soothing me.

"Hey, are you feeling okay?" he asked, trying to help me. I wished it was helping me. I wished that Jacob could comfort me, but he didn't soothe me the way Edward did.

"I'm fine," I said like I had been saying to everyone lately, like Alice, Emmett, and Jasper (who had been coming over recently, and was good with emotions, halfway cheering me up most days, even for a moment).

"Really? Because I don't think you are. Why are all these flowers here? Did something happen?" he asked, his brow furrowing with concern.

"No, uh, just some guy, but he doesn't matter. I'll get rid of the roses right away, Jacob," I said, my heart tearing at the thought of doing such a thing.

"That's okay, you don't have to do that. I was just wondering why your desk smelled like a funeral home." I smiled a little. I could keep the little reminder that Edward might possibly still care. "I gotta get back to work though, and so should you. Chatting with people isn't what I pay you for, Ms. Swan," he said jokingly. He ran back into his office and began working on something.

The phone didn't ring for a little while, which calmed me down. Maybe Edward had given up. I didn't want him to, though. I thought about meeting him all afternoon. Should I do it? What if I did? What would I say? What would he say? It bothered me all afternoon, teasing my brain. It was the elephant in the room, really.

At five, I was still undecided. If I turned right, I would be accepting Edward back, but I didn't know if I could handle that. If I turned left, I would be depriving myself of something I not only wanted, but needed. I needed to be with Edward, I could feel it from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. But I just wasn't ready to forgive him yet. So I turned left as I exited the building.

_(I almost stopped right there, but I figured you guys would kill me if I did, so I decided to go to the next cliffhanger...)_

I got home and went through the motions for Alice, like I usually did. Jasper then came over, which was my cue to leave my room and sit around watching chick flicks, like _Love Actually _and _27 Dresses _and _Titanic_, while eating oreos covered in pink icing to be my comfort food. Sometimes, I would just eat the icing plain. It didn't heal the pain I was feeling, but it just covered it up. What was making it worse was the fact that I didn't talk about it. I honestly had no desire to talk about why I felt so damn depressed. At work, in front of Alice, in front of people in general, I had to pretend like nothing was wrong and put on the face that says "I'm fine, and no, the guy that I went out with a few times and had a great connection with did not cheat on me with some slut, who was also two timing him with my boss, whom I had planned to marry."

The calls kept coming.

"Go away, Edward," I shouted into the phone one day a week later, hanging up, and nearly breaking the phone when I threw it back down.

"Personal matter? Not on company time, Swan," Emmett joked, waltzing past me to go into Jacob's office. How was he allowed to just do that? I should just stop him, but Emmett had a _lot_ of muscles, and I wasn't about to mess with him, especially when he wasn't really doing any damage.

"It's not like I asked Edward to call me every three seconds," I called back to him. "I never want to see Edward Masen again!"

"Geez, calm down," he said. "Take a chill pill. I still think you should give him a chance. Guys are stupid and make mistakes all the time. Look at me and Rose," he said, getting this look in his eye, like... like he was in love with her, "we've only been together for like, a month, and I've screwed up so many times, but Rose... Rose just forgives me and moves on. That reminds me, Alice said she wanted us to meet her new boyfriend, so we're coming over on Friday," he said, walking away before I could defend my actions. The phone rang again.

"Eclipse Magazine, Jacob Black's office, Bella Swan speaking, how may I help you?" I asked in a bored tone.

"Oh, Bella," said a voice that probably sounded the exact same way the devil's would.

"Oh, Tanya," I said, sarcastically sweet. This was going to be fun...

_A/N: Sorry, it's really short. I'll try to update tomorrow!!!! I watched the show _Wishbone_ right before I wrote this, so I thank that amazing dog for being my inspiration!_


	16. Chapter 16

**isclaimer: I do not own Twilight or Thoroughly Modern Millie. I can wish, though.**

_A/N: Really nothing to say. Hope you like it._

"Tanya! What can I do for you today?" I said, still using that sweet tone. I wanted to jump through the phone and kill her, but that wasn't possible. I really, sincerely wished that it was. I was just going to wait for her to bring something up that I could use against her or have her bring something up that would give me grounds to yell at her.

"Actually, I was wondering if you could put the call through to Jacob for me. It would be a big favor," she said. It made me hate her more. She wanted to go straight for Jacob now. Ugh.

"Why sure!" I said enthusiastically, through my teeth. I turned to call back into Jacob's office. "Hey, Jacob, someone wants to talk to you on line one!"

"Who? If it's those stupid wallpaper designers, tell them-"

"Oh, no, you'll want to take it. It's Tanya!" I said, again, very enthusiastically, but with a sarcastic undertone.

"Really? Oh, my gosh, I... what? What should I do?" he said, sounding extremely flustered. He smoothed his hair back and then smoothed his clothes out as well. He was just going to talk to her on the phone, why do all that? He walked over and shut the door, leaving me out of the conversation. I tried to work, but it wasn't keeping my mind off of whatever Tanya was telling Jacob. After a few minutes, Jacob emerged from his office and came to my desk, his hands on his hips. He looked like he had no idea what to do. His eyes were wide and he just looked around, not really focusing on anything.

"Bella," he began, "do you want to meet me for a drink after work? Just the two of us?" he asked, not meeting my eyes.

"Yes!" I practically shouted. I was beaming, and probably blushing as well.

"Okay, I'll meet you at that place around the corner, after work, at about 5:30, is that good?"

"Of course, Jacob!" I wanted to jump up and throw my arms around him. I didn't care if he was with Tanya now, I was making progress! And Alice would be so proud of me.

After work, I rushed home and did my makeup and changed my clothes, gushing to Alice about the whole thing.

"I'm so excited! I wonder what it's going to be like. I'm sorry I'm not going to be here when Rose and Emmett get here, but this is so much more important," I said while putting in earrings and then smoothing my dress. It was plain and black, nothing special, with thick tank straps. I wore my black flats too.

"Don't even worry about it, I'm sure they'll understand. I can't believe this is happening for you! I'm so excited!!! Gosh. And plus, if you're gone, Jasper and I will have time for ourselves before the others get here. He said he has something important to talk about, so maybe we can do that tonight." She walked over and arranged my hair so that it was smoother and not as poofy. She kissed my cheek. "Good luck," she said, handing me my black clutch and practically pushing me out the door.

I took my time getting to the bar, calming myself along the way. Maybe now things were different with Jacob and I and he'd realize he doesn't need Tanya. That would be great. Then, all of my dreams could come true. I reached the bar and pulled the door open, seeing Jacob sitting on a stool, three different glasses in front of him. I walked up to him, and could smell the alcohol coming off of him.

"Jacob?" I asked, worried about him. "How much have you had to drink?"

"Not that much. And it wasn't very strong. Could not never be strong enough."

"You just used a double negative. Maybe a bar wasn't the best idea. What's gotten into you?" I asked, taking a seat beside him. I was too young to drink and hadn't planned on drinking, anyway.

"No, the bar WAS a good idea. Nothing has gotten into me, and I'm still the same guy I was this afternoon," he said, his words slurring. "Just single now. Tanya dumped me because she said she needed some time alone." So that made me the rebound girl. I was willing to take that position if I had to, even if I didn't like it. I was getting desperate. I had to support him.

"Tanya wasn't good enough for you, anyway. She was just a cheater. I really don't see what you saw in her in the first place." With that, Jacob leaned over, mashing his lips against mine, causing my eyes to fly wide open. He tasted like alcohol and he was trying to shove his tongue down my throat. He was off balance and leaning into me, crushing me. It just didn't feel right. I pushed him off me. I knew I was an idiot for doing so, but I had to.

"What? What did I do wrong? Oh, gosh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that, it wasn't right," he said, looking sorry. I leaned over and kissed him again, trying to see if this kiss was better than the last. Maybe if I wasn't so shocked, it would be better and I might actually get some feeling. No. Nothing. I pulled away from him, and this time, he was the one looking shocked.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"I... you know, I spent so much time and energy on this stupid plan, that... I don't know. I was an idiot. I'm sorry, Jacob, but I'm going to have to leave." I grabbed my black clutch and ran as fast as I possibly could to the coffee shop. I pushed my way through people, hoping I wouldn't be late. I flung open the door and ran in, looking around for Edward. Having no luck, I rushed over to the counter.

"Hi, I'm sorry to bother you, but did a man with reddish-brown hair, green eyes, and a little over six feet tall come here tonight? Or any other night this week?" I asked frantically. The guy behind the counter must have thought I was nuts, but didn't show it if he did.

"Actually yeah. He said that if a girl with a description that matches yours ever came in asking about him, I should give you this." He handed me a card with an address written very elegantly on it. "He said for me to tell you that you can come there whenever you want, night or day. He said he'll be waiting for you."

"Thank you!" I yelled, heading out to the street again, getting in a cab and reading off the address hastily. We reached the building and I threw a wad of cash at the cabbie before crawling out and running to go inside. I ran as fast as I could up the stairs to what had to be Edward's apartment and I began to beat on the door as hard as I could before he answered it.

"Bella."

_A/N: I'm sooooooo sorry for the cliffy ending again! I'm going to try to post another chapter today if I can. Finals this week are going to kill my writing time, so that's why I did this. I think I'm going to have one more chapter, then an epilogue. I hope you guys liked this. Please review! Thanks for reading!_


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or Thoroughly Modern Millie. I can wish, though.**

_A/N: I felt sorry for you guys, not knowing how this was going to end. So I decided to write one more chapter for today._

Edward stood in the doorway, looking as handsome as ever and a little crazy.

"Hi," I said, unsure as to how I could do this. I didn't know what to say at all. I didn't know how to do this.

"Come in, please, Bella," he said, ushering me in. His apartment was very nice for someone who didn't have a job. It was nearly as big as the one Alice and I had together, with a long black leather couch and a huge bed with a gold comforter. The carpet and curtains were gold as well, and his walls were plain and white. There was a big bookshelf in the corner that was filled with CD's. I just sort of walked around the room, examining everything before I began to speak, turning towards him.

"I should have let you explain. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. Just because I saw you with Tanya-"

"How did you know her name was Tanya?" he asked, interrupting me.

"She was dating my boss. And I met her at a club- actually, the club I met you at. I knew she looked familiar, then it hit me later that you had been dancing with her before you came to dance with me the night we met. And then, just seeing you with her made me realize you couldn't ever have feelings for me."

"Why would you think that?"

"Because it's true. Edward, you're handsome and nice and funny and sweet. Guys like that never go for girls like me."

"You're so absurd, Isabella. First of all, Tanya is my cousin. And secondly, there's no one on this earth I'd rather be with than you." My heart quickened. So, Tanya... wasn't... she...

"What? You mean you were never with her? And you like me?" He looked down at the floor.

"More like 'love you.'" I realized there were tears in my eyes as I ran over and threw my arms around his neck, kissing him in every spot my lips could reach. When his lips were free, Edward started talking again.

"What happened with you marrying your boss?"

"I gave up. I realized that you were the one for me. I can't believe how stupid I've been, all this time. I kept chasing after Jacob, flirting with him and everything, but he still didn't notice me until Tanya broke up with him today. He told me to meet him at the bar around the corner from the office after work, so I did. I got there and he was already drunk. He kissed me and there was nothing. No sparks, no feelings whatsoever. Not like when I do this," I paused, kissing him, " to you. That's how I knew that I needed to give up. The plan might work out for Alice, but it won't for me."

"How do you know it won't?" he asked.

"What are you talking about? I want to be with you. You're confusing me. I thought you wanted to be with me."

"Never mind. Just answer one question for me. I know you've only known me for about a month, but I don't care. Will you marry me?" he asked me. I knew it would be crazy to accept. But I'd be crazier not to.

"Yes! Of course!" I screamed and we were kissing again. He pulled me over to his dresser, opening a drawer and pulling out a box. It had a ring inside it, with a gold band and several diamonds shaped around an oval in the center. He slipped it onto my finger. "You know how you don't have a job? Well, how do you have this ring? How did you get this apartment, for that matter?" I asked. I knew it was rude, but if I was going to spend the rest of my life as Mrs. Edward Masen, I deserved to know.

"Well, I got that ring from my mother. My real mother." He paused, figuring out what he was about to say. "My brother and I were adopted when we were young. He was eight, I was six. Our real parents died in a car crash, so we were adopted by Esme and Carlisle Cullen." I gasped. Edward was the adoptive son of Esme Cullen. Esme Cullen was going to be my mother-in-law.

"What? So you're... that's why you don't have a job?! And how come you didn't take Cullen as your last name?" He laughed, taking both my hands in his.

"Let me finish, love. My brother decided he wanted to take the last name Cullen. I didn't because I liked my name. I didn't want to have a different last name than my real mom and dad. I can't explain it. I just didn't want to change my name, so Carlisle and Esme didn't make me."

"What's your brother's name?" I asked. I wanted to know everything about him. I felt really silly that I was going to marry this man, yet I knew hardly anything about him, except how much I loved him.

"Emmett. He works with you, I think." My jaw dropped.

"Emmett is your BROTHER?!!!" I screamed. How could they be so different?! Edward was a perfect gentleman, and Emmett was completely rude and stuck on himself.

"Yeah. We are absolutely NOTHING alike, as you could probably tell."

"Oh, yeah, I could tell," I said, laughing. He laughed along with me, making my heart feel all warm.

"So after my real mom and dad died, in the will, it said that I got this ring. It was what my father, Edward, gave to my mother, Elizabeth, when they got engaged. They wanted me to give it to the woman I'd spend the rest of my life with." I smiled again at the thought of spending forever with Edward. It seemed so right, now that I was thinking straight.

"And why don't I have a job? I just don't need one. You know how earlier I asked you why you couldn't marry your boss?" I nodded. "Well, Esme loves houses and designing and decorating them. So, he created Eclipse Magazine for her, and when I turned eighteen, I got half of the company. I didn't take it then because I wasn't really sure about it. I've just been living off of what Carlisle gives me, but today I went to him and I now do own half of Eclipse. Emmett didn't want it because it was too 'girly' for him to have. But he didn't have a problem with taking a job there, so we gave him a position where he makes a ridiculous amount of money for doing practically nothing. He and Jacob are good friends as well. So, I, technically, am your boss." I smiled. So I could marry the love of my life AND my boss. I kissed him again and again and again until I was breathless.

"You know, your brother is actually supposed to be coming over to my apartment tonight. I should be getting back there anyway, so you should come and we can break the news to Alice together. I'm going to need your support," I said, only half joking.

"I'll go anywhere with you," he said simply.

When we reached the apartment, I opened the door and Alice was sitting on the couch with Jasper, their foreheads pressed together and their noses touching. They both were smiling and their eyes were closed. I really didn't want to ruin the moment, but Jasper looked up to see us.

"BELLA, OH MY GOSH!" Alice screamed. Her peaceful mood couldn't last for long. Oh, well. "GUESS WHAT!" She held up her left hand, where a big diamond ring sat. I started screaming and so did Alice.

"THAT'S SO GREAT!!!! BUT LOOK!" I screamed, holding up my left hand as well. She started laughing.

"So, did you pick the right one?" she asked.

"There's a long story that goes with this," I said, leading her and Edward back to the couch. Together, Edward and I explained about what had happened in the past few hours and Alice's expression didn't change the entire way through the story. After we were finished, she closed her eyes.

"I knew Edward was the one for you. I just got this feeling. You think my 'feelings' are crazy, but see: look at this apartment, look at you two together, look at Jasper sitting here, right next to me. I saw all of these things together. So you wouldn't be engaged to the man of your dreams if it weren't for me." We all laughed.

"I really don't give you enough credit. You're like my sister. Will you be my maid of honor?" I asked.

"Are you kidding me? Of course, stupid! And you have to be mine, too!" She hugged me tightly, and a second later, there was a knock at the front door. Jasper got up to get it.

"Jasper, what are you doing here?" I heard Rosalie ask. She, Jasper, and Emmett walked into the room.

"Edward? Why the hell are you here?" he asked.

"I'm confused," Alice said.

"Jasper is my twin brother," Rosalie said like it was a completely obvious, common knowledge thing. Alice just screamed for what had to be the millionth time that night. She jumped up and skipped over to Rose, hugging her tightly around the shoulders.

"Rose, there's something I need to tell you. Alice and I are getting married."

"What?! I didn't even know you guys were dating!" Rose yelled. Wow, what was up with the yelling tonight?

"I didn't even know Jasper had a sister. But I couldn't think of anyone else I'd want to be my sister-in-law," Alice said.

"Emmett, Bella and I have some news as well," Edward said. "We're getting married." He took my hand and Emmett could now see the ring. Emmett's mouth dropped and then he started laughing.

"Maybe now you'll lose your virginity!" he said, causing everyone to laugh, but it wasn't a mean laughter, it was just playful teasing. "No, No, I'm really happy for you. Bella's a sweet girl. I told her she should take you back, and she did." I kissed Edward again. After a long evening of talking, explaining, and laughter, we all decided to stay at our apartment for the night. It was really confusing and messed up, but with my new friends and new fiance, everything would work out fine in the end. It was rushed and different and weird, but I just knew deep down that Alice and I had made the right decision by coming here, as well as made the right decisions with Jasper and Edward. I was never going to bet against Alice again.

_A/N: Not over yet!!!! I've still got the epilogue, and then the FAQ's and Thank you's! It might take me a day or so to get to the epilogue, though. Just be patient, please. At least I didn't leave you with a cliffhanger!_


	18. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or Thoroughly Modern Millie. I can wish, though.**

_A/N: Sorry for the holdup. I was really tired and at a loss for inspiration for this chapter. For more about this, and for my thank you's and next projects, please go to the next chapter! I hope you like the last chapter._

**Epilogue**

Alice and Jasper were married the next month. Since Alice had been planning her wedding since she was ten years old, it was no problem to find her dress and bridesmaid's gowns. Booking someplace to hold the wedding and reception was harder, but after flashing the last name "Hale" around, it was no problem to get in on such short notice.

Rose and I were the only bridesmaids for Alice, and Emmett and Edward were Jasper's only groomsmen, but it was enough. No, really, there were already enough people there. Besides the parents of the bride and groom, they each had at least fifty other relatives, and even more long lost friends and colleagues (in Jasper's case). It really was a beautiful wedding, especially since Alice was a good planner.

Unlike Alice and Jasper, Edward and I waited to get married. We wanted to get to know each other better first. We both just _knew_ that we were meant to be together, we just didn't want to rush it. Plus, if my mother knew we were engaged, she would throw a fit, since she was so against teen marriage.

We didn't live together, like Jasper and Alice had before their marriage. We stayed at our separate apartments, seeing each other every day and going out together all the time. Most of the time, we'd fall asleep at the other's place, and it was nice to wake up to the smell of Edward cooking breakfast or to roll over and see him sitting on the sofa, just watching me.

I started college in the fall and still saw Alice every day. It was sad that we wouldn't be together like we always had been, but we also always knew that this day would come. I enjoyed all of my classes, which were mostly just required classes for freshmen. I couldn't wait until next year, so I could pick my major and start learning about something _I_ was passionate about for a change. College was also amazingly stress-free, due to the fact that Edward was now going to pay for my college, so that burden wouldn't be on me.

Edward and I decided to get married the next summer, in June, right before his birthday. Esme, Alice, and my mother, Renee, helped design everything for the wedding. My mother threw a little fit when we finally told her in November that we were engaged, but she soon settled down and accepted the fact that I was a grown woman and nothing she could say could tear Edward away from me, or tear me away from him. My father was depressed about it, and I could tell. He didn't want to accept that some other guy would be the main man in my life now, and that his baby was grown up (even though I hadn't lived with him in months). Renee and Charlie and Esme and Carlisle got along wonderfully, and I was thankful for that.

Alice helped me get my gown. I was a little embarrassed by it, since it was a little too poofy for me, and it was strapless. Alice said I looked gorgeous and Rose agreed. I picked out their bridesmaids' gowns, which were silver and worked perfectly on both of them. They were definitely NOT ugly, like most bridesmaid's dresses tended to be.

The morning of the wedding soon came, and I was more nervous than I could have ever believed possible. It wasn't that I was marrying Edward and I was unsure about him. That could never happen. It was just the fact that I was a klutz and if I tripped, I would get really embarrassed. There weren't very many people there, just some close friends and family. Alice, Jasper, Rosalie, Emmett, both sets of parents, Tanya, Emily (the woman that gave Alice and I the apartment)... and we even invited Jacob, who brought his date. When I told Emily that I was moving out of the apartment, she was just curious and wanted to know why. I explained everything to her, and she just laughed. She felt sorry for Jacob, and said she had a cousin named Leah that would probably like him. So, now, Jacob was very content with his new girlfriend.

I thought about how much I loved Edward before I went out there. It helped to take my fears away, knowing how much he loved me and we'd always be there for each other. I bravely marched out on my father's arm, right after Alice and Rose. Seeing the look on Edward's face made everything all right, and I realized I'd been nervous for nothing. I focused on him until I finally was where I was supposed to be. I kissed my father's cheek before Edward took both of my hands in his. We mouthed "I Love You"'s to each other before the minister began to say the words that so many couples in love had said over hundreds of years. At the end, after the rings were on our fingers and the "I do"'s were said, we kissed, and it was like a kiss out of a movie: perfect. I looked up into Edward's shining eyes, and knew that even if he was a nobody, it wouldn't have mattered. I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him, and no amount of money could change that.

_A/N: I hope you liked it! It was sort of short, and I really just hope the ending was better resolved. I could have just left it at the last chapter, but I didn't. I think this makes it more realistic, and I hope it ended in the right place. Please read my FAQ's and Thank you's now!_


	19. FAQ's and Thank you's

Okay, here it goes:

Thank you's: I want to thank everyone involved with my high school's performance of _Thoroughly Modern Millie._ You are the ones that made it an amazing show and turned it into one of my all-time favorites, and I was glad to be a part of it. I want to thank everyone who read, reviewed, and PM'd me, you make my world. I really like to hear what you guys think, even if it's bad. Plus, you guys help me with typo's and screw up's on my part, which help me make it better for other people to read. I love you guys, really.

FAQ's:

Why did you decide to do this?

I decided I wanted to cross_ Twilight _and _Thoroughly Modern Millie_ because I really love both of them. _Millie_ is my third favorite musical (right after _Beauty and the Beast _and _Little Shop of Horrors_, which my high school has done both of them). I really liked the idea of it, and wanted to bring them together in a way that would make me fall more in love with all of the characters.

Who was who?

Millie Dillmount: Okay, there could be two possible Millie's here, Bella or Alice. Alice has the spirit of Millie and the same idea, but Bella is the person the story is about, and all of Millie's problems happen to Bella.

Jimmy Smith: Obviously Edward.

Mr. Trevor Graydon III: Jacob... possibly Jasper...

Muzzy Van Hossmere: Esme

Miss Dorothy: Tanya (a really slutty Miss Dorothy)

What? Where's the Mrs. Meers, Bun Foo, and Ching Ho storyline? Couldn't you have used Emily or Rosalie?

I didn't know how to incorporate that into the plot, sorry. Once I realized how to, it was too late to go back and add it in anywhere. So sorry!

What's your favorite song from _Millie?_

That's actually a toughy. I really like "Forget about the Boy", and if you haven't heard it, look it up on Youtube right now from the Tony Awards a few years ago. It's awesome. But, "Gimme Gimme" is another good one, and of course, who doesn't like "Jimmy?" So just Youtube those songs, and you'll be good. Google the script and read that too, if you really liked this plot. I'd love for you all to become fans of the show because of this!

When do you plan on getting back into writing?

I don't know. I might do a one-shot here or there, but I won't have a big big big story until June, probably. I have too much to do right now: school, getting my license, and theater. Theater is a huge part of my life (in case you haven't noticed), and I've been blessed in the fact that my school has a very good theater program that I can be involved in. I've worked in _All Shook Up, Peter Pan, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Wizard of Oz,_ and _Back to the '80's _all within the last year, not to mention the fact that I haven't worked on _Little Women, Little Shop of Horrors, _and _Mulan_, since those are the other plays we've done in the past year. So I'm really really stressed out right now, and if you're patient, you will get something later, so please subscribe and favorite and you'll get some new stuff soon.

When you do start working, what will your next projects be?

I won't be working on another big Twilight project until this summer sometime. I want to focus on other fanfictions for right now. What I do have planned for Twilight that you might see by March or April are some one-shots. I've got a Twilight one-shot based on the song "Video Girl" by the Jonas Brothers, along with a couple others. My big Twilight story has been top secret, but I'll tell you guys now: Edward's gonna be this vigilante superhero, and I can't tell you anymore.... but that's the big story that's coming up in June. I'm still developing it. Then, I just came up with this idea for another Twilight story with Jack the Ripper-esque murders and Edward trying to stop them. For the not-so-Twilight projects, I've got my baby that I will work on starting in May, and it's a Mummy 3 rewrite. I didn't like the third one, so I decided I'd make my own, where you just disregard the 3rd one and continue like that. It's going to be weird and sometimes from someone's POV, and then sometimes 3rd person... I'm still working on that. Umm, there are several Fright Night one-shots, so be looking for those (aka: go find the movie online *cough cough youtube or best buy or amazon* and watch it so you can read my crap. And I've got a Sleepy Hollow one-shot describing the life of Ichabod's mother. So that's what I have there, and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE SUBSCRIBE!!!!!!! It would mean the world to me if you would just do that PLEASE! I really want you to read my work because I do it for you.

THANKS FOR READING,

LOVE,

EMILY


	20. Beta Profile Up!

I'm just going to let everyone know that now, I have a Beta Reader Profile, if anyone wants me to read their things. I read basically anything, but just check out my beta profile for more information. I can also read in French, though it isn't my forte, but I can read it! I'll read pretty much anything, as I said, just not things with tons of lemons. I'll read any movie or book or television show or comic/manga/anime. So please please please send a request to me or whatever it is (idk, I'm new to this). I'll be happy to read it!

Thanks a million,

Emily

P.S.: I'm the person to go to if you're new to fanfiction. I'm not that much of a criticizer, since my writing sucks.


	21. Long AN and Update, Please Read!

A/N: So, I've noticed that lately I've been making it onto quite a few Favorites lists, which is completely great, and I love it! So thank you to all those who are adding me and who have subscribed to alerts. And even though this is a little late, and no one will probably read this until it's too late, just letting you know that even if you didn't like it, even if you don't have much to say besides "yeah, it was good", I'd still like you to review, because I love them soooooo much, and I can't tell you how much I really appreciate them. Just saying thank you to all of those who are reading it, and who have read it, and who have reviewed time and time again. And just so you know, I am working on trying to do another fanfiction for Twilight, as well as my own original work, which I hope to publish on deviantart and fictionpress, and I'll of course let you know when that happens to be. As funny as it sounds, I think I actually get more of my personal work done during school. I know I told you guys I'd have another fic out this summer, but it just hasn't worked out. I've got the first two chapters done, though! The thing is, I don't want to start a story and post the chapters right away, and then not have anything for months, because I know I hate it when authors do that to me.

Some other fics I'm planning are for Fright Night, which I'm sure I've already said... haven't I? And I have a few other things planned, none of which come to mind at the moment, lol... I'm a little brain-dead right now. Oh, and if you're looking for some good reads before the end of summer (when you're not reading fics, lol), I'd recommend:

_10 Things I Hate About Me_ by Randa Abdel-Fattah (and if you like this, I'd read her first book as well, _Does My Head Look Big in This?_)

Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris (of course)

_Les Miserables_ by Victor Hugo (my friend was in that musical, and he was amazing, and I wanted to read the book, which is huge, but soooo good)

Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare (I've met her. I went to her book signing and talked to her for like, 5 minutes and I told her I named my cat after Simon, and then she told me she named Simon after her cat!)

_Wake _and _Fade_ by Lisa McMann (I've met her too, AND held Ms. Spoobin... be jealous)

_Common Sense _by Thomas Paine or _Common Sense_ by Glenn Beck (good if you're a conservative or just like American history. Glenn Beck is my hero, for sure. Best quote ever: "The moment I stop being genuine is the moment I fail."- Glenn Beck. Funny thing is, the guy I wrote "The Boy from Alaska" for? Yeah, his nickname for me is "Genuine Person")

_The Luxe_ and _Rumors_ and _Envy_ by Anna Godberson (and _Splendor_ comes out this year!)

_The Legend of Sleepy Hollow_ by Washington Irving (classic and amazing, and probably the only American fairy tale)

Not to mention...

The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer (whom I've met too, btw, again, be jealous...)

So, to all of you, I hope your summer is going great and has been going great! Please, if you want to talk to me about anything or ask me anything, review or PM me, I always get back to your questions. Oh, and I love book and movie suggestions, and those are some things you should put in the reviews here! And, if you watch _The Bachelorette_, you should talk about what your thoughts on that were... I loved Reid, lol... anyway, thanks for reading!

Love,

Emily


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